Six state wildlife officials suspended following indictments
Wednesday, April 7, 2010 5:32 PM
By Randy Ludlow

The Columbus Dispatch

Six state wildlife officials were suspended from their jobs with pay today following their indictments on felony charges.

The officials were charged last week in Brown County after a report by Ohio's inspector general found they did not pursue charges against a wildlife officer accused of violating laws regarding the issuance of hunting licenses.

Suspended were Wildlife Chief David Graham, Assistant Chief Randy Miller, Human Resources Administrator Michele Ward-Tackett, Law Enforcement Administrator James Lehman, District 5 Manager Todd Haines and Wildlife Officer Allan Wright.

The employees will remain on leave until the court cases against them are resolved, said Mike Shelton, director of external affairs for the Ohio Department of Natural Resources.


They five wildlife officials have pleaded not guilty to charges of obstructing justice and complicity to obstruct justice stemming from the alleged conduct of Wright.

The state report found that Wright illegally allowed a friend who lived out of state to use Wright's Ohio address to obtain a hunting license, saving $104 over the cost of an out-of-state license. Wright is charged with two felony counts of tampering with records and a misdemeanor count of falsification.

Wright's superiors are charged with to covering up the potential misdemeanor by handling the matter administratively

Kathi,

Thanks for posting the article.
I think some guys in Ohio are in deep trouble.

Don

Sounds like a pretty stupid way to lose your job by not having a 'friend' pay a $100.00 license fee. I think it just goes to show what intelligent folks we have running the state here!