There’s a price to pay for poaching with the boys. Just ask Jessica Kroening. Kroening, age 37, was recently sentenced to jail time and a fine for her role in the poaching of more than 100 deer across three counties in Wisconsin.
She had previously pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor count of illegally shining deer, intentionally contributing to the delinquency of a child, and a count of resisting a conservation warden.
In addition to the jail time and the fine, Kroening will lose all DNR privileges for three years.
Kroening, along with three minors, including her son, were involved in the teen poaching ring. The minors were prosecuted in juvenile court for their roles in the case.
District Attorney, Barry Braatz, asked for one year in jail, calling it the “most egregious” hunting violation case he has seen. “Given that her son was one of the offenders prosecuted in juvenile court, she must be held accountable for her actions.”
However, the defense attorney played things down, saying the whole ordeal was blown out of proportion and pushed for a simple fine against Kroening.
But that’s not what happened. Despite the defense attorney’s best efforts to minimize Kroening’s actions and involvement, the judge didn’t budge.
“As I’ve indicated, the facts demonstrate that you clearly had knowledge of this on-going course of conduct. And, that you permitted it. And, that you had a responsibility to do otherwise. That’s what parenting is, ma’am. He may have been 17, but he’s your 17-year-old. The firearms were in your household. And, the witnesses indicate the firearms were of your family’s. It was your vehicle being taken. That vehicle was searched and found to contain knives that had blood on them, floormats that had blood on them, a flashlight that had blood on it. A saw in the car. Ma’am, it had to be obvious what was going on for that period of time and you simply chose not to intervene,” the judge said.
According to a complaint, police were called to a Campbellsport home for a report of a foul odor coming from a garbage bag behind the residence. Inside, four deer heads were found. Kroening denied any knowledge of them.
The owner of the property, who had been in a relationship with Kroening, told police a juvenile who lived there had been killing deer for more than a year, along with help from another juvenile. Police talked to the second juvenile and got a confession on the case.
“Juvenile 2 stated that he and Juvenile 1 have been going around and shooting deer at night with a spotlight and a rifle for approximately one year. Juvenile 2 stated that they always used the defendant’s vehicle to go out shooting deer. He stated that they used firearms owned by Juvenile 1’s family. Juvenile 2 also stated that the defendant is aware of them shooting deer and has been on the phone with them while they are out doing it. He also stated that the defendant and others have accompanied them to shoot deer,” the complaint states.
Eventually, Kroening admitted her involvement in the case.
“She stated that she was in the rear driver’s seat while the juvenile was in the driver’s seat. The defendant stated that Juvenile 1 held the firearm between his leg and the center console by the driver’s seat. She stated that from the backseat, she held the spotlight while Juvenile 1 shot out of the front driver’s seat. The defendant stated that after the deer was killed, Juvenile 1 drove her home and picked up Juvenile 2 to go retrieve the deer. She stated that the two boys waited about three hours to retrieve the deer so they would not get caught,” the complaint states.
According to the report, police searched Kroening’s vehicle, recovering “a bloody steak knife, a bloody wooden saw, a bloody Milwaukee brand spotlight, three bloody floormats, a .22 caliber bullet, and two bloody pocket knives. Said officer further reports that the defendant eventually turned over two firearms that the Juveniles had used – a .22 caliber rifle and a 7 mm rifle. Both rifles had the serial numbers scratched off, and said officer reports it appeared they were scratched off recently due to the bright shiny metal where the serial numbers had been located and metal shavings on the stocks.”
So what’s the price to pay for being a mother-poacher?
Kroening was sentenced to 1-month in jail and $1000 fine for her involvement in the teen poaching ring.
