(image source; Maryland Department of Natural Resources)John Gallano IV, 20, and Christopher Johnson, 20, face a combined total of 73 charges for poaching deer in Maryland. The pair of young men were under investigation by the Maryland Department of Natural Resources for more than a year before they were formally charged. Gallano and Johnson used a spotlight to kill 8 deer from a car with a crossbow before dumping all of the carcasses sometime between 1:00 and 5:00 AM on October 18, 2015.
Aaron Parker, acting lieutenant from the Maryland DNR couldn’t believe it. “The most shocking part of this is the fact that all they did was dump the deer,” he said.
Needless to say the poachers didn’t bother logging their deer or asking permission to hunt on the private properties. Their charges include trespassing, hunting deer with spotlights, hunting deer after nightfall, hunting from a vehicle, shooting from a roadway, hunting in a safety zone, hunting on private land without permission, failure to report harvested deer, wanton waste of deer, false entry in public record, possessing a loaded crossbow in a vehicle, and illegal dumping.
Both men are due in Baltimore County District Court on November 14, and Howard County District Court November 17. According to the Maryland DNR website, Gallano and Johnson could face jail time and fines greater than $50,000 if convicted.
