OHIO ODNR sting results in eight arrests

Fish were being caught and sold for profit, according to investigators.
An undercover sting operation by the Ohio Department of Natural Resources Division of Wildlife has resulted in the arrest of eight northeast Ohio men on felony charges involving the illegal sale of sportfish.
The eight men, all from Conneaut, were arraigned Tuesday, six in Conneaut Municipal Court and two in Ashtabula County Eastern Court.
At a press conference in Ashtabula on Tuesday, a spokesman for the Division of Wildlife said the arrests were part of what the DOW called "Operation Cornerstone."
About the probe
The operation was a multiyear, undercover investigation that was sparked initially by complaints from Ashtabula-area residents who knew about the sale of the fish, said Bill Beagle, with the DOW District Three office in Akron. It is illegal to sell sports-caught fish in Ohio.
Beagle said the eight men will each face up to $4,500 in restitution-based fines and up to a year in jail for the sales. The total restitution, according to a state calculation on the cost of individual species of wildlife, could go as high as $89,500, Beagle said.
He added that over the course of the investigation, DOW undercover officers purchased thousands of pounds of the fish.
Beagle said some of those involved ran charter fishing operations. The fish were caught by the traditional hook-and-line method, he added.
Beagle said those involved were not subsistence fishing. "They were all employed," he said.
The men arrested were Jason Heinbaugh, 27; Edwin Winger, 66; Walter Kaczoroski, 56; Keith Penniaman, 26; James Murcharone, 20; Raoul Erdman, 51; Richard Ferl, 64; and William Powell, 64.
Beagle said that the 15 DOW officers involved were impressed that the fish were offered for sale weighed and packaged in zipper-style plastic bags.