3 Las Vegas men convicted of poaching, face federal charges
Three men convicted of poaching deer in Nevada are facing federal charges for allegedly possessing illegal firearms and killing protected birds.
Adrian Acevedo-Hernandez, 36, Jose Luis Montufar-Canales, 31, J. Nemias Reyes Marin, 31, all of Las Vegas, are accused of killing at least six mule deer, authorities said.
Acevedo-Hernandez, Montufar-Canales and Marin are suspected of living in the U.S. illegally, Nevada Department of Wildlife officials said, and they are therefore not permitted to own firearms or buy hunting licenses. They’re also suspected of killing federally protected birds, although officials wouldn’t elaborate which birds were killed.
A fourth man, Hiko resident Jose Manuel Ortega-Torres, 30, was also convicted on local charges for poaching but isn’t facing federal charges.
Nevada Department of Wildlife game wardens said they were alerted to the poachers in June 2013 after they received an anonymous photo of three men — Acevedo-Hernandez, Ortega-Torres and an unidentified man — posing around a deer carcass in Hiko, about 110 miles north of Las Vegas.
Cameron Waithman, the warden leading the investigation, spent months investigating, he said. Ortego-Torres was the initial suspect arrested. He was later convicted in Lincoln County of a gross misdemeanor for unlawful possession of a mule deer.
Acevedo-Hernandez was convicted in July in Lincoln County of two gross misdemeanors for unlawful possession of two mule deer. That same month he was convicted in Elko County, also for unlawful possession of a mule deer. Authorities seized his truck and rifle and fined him $3,250. He was given credit for the 12 months he spent in jail.
Montufar-Canales was convicted in January in Churchill County of a misdemeanor for using false information to obtain a hunting license. He was fined $690 and given a 10-day suspended jail sentence.
Marin pleaded guilty in Elko County to a gross misdemeanor for unlawful possession of a mule deer. He will be sentenced next month.
The three men facing federal charges are awaiting trial.
Contact reporter Mike Blasky at mblasky@reviewjournal.com. Follow @blasky on Twitter.
