Bear Poaching Plea Costs Maryland Man $1,300
CUMBERLAND, Md. (AP) -- A western Maryland man has to pay $1,300 in fines and restitution after pleading guilty to killing a black bear out of season.
The Cumberland Times-News reports that 48-year-old Steven McKee of Flintstone struck the plea deal Tuesday in Allegany County District Court. Prosecutors dropped other charges, including one that McKee used bait to lure game in a part of the county where baiting is prohibited to curb the spread of chronic wasting disease among deer.
McKee was fined $500 for shooting the bear last month with a crossbow. He also must pay the Department of Natural Resources $800 in restitution for the bear and a deer that he shot and did not report.
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