BRIDGTON – Four Oxford County residents were arrested Monday night and 11 others summoned on charges of wildlife crimes following 10 simultaneous raids by 87 officers.

Arrested were:

• Lawrence Perry, 55, of Fryeburg, on one charge of night hunting.

• Randy S. Burnell, 42, of Brownfield, on one charge of exceeding the bag limit on deer.

• Stephen Bennett, no age given, of Lovell, on a felony Class C charge of possession of a firearm by a felon.

• Ernest A. Perreault Jr., 44, of Brownfield, on a charge of exceeding the bag limit on deer.

Although the four were only charged with one crime each, Maine Game Warden’s deputy chief, Major Tom Santaguida, said that was done to streamline the court process.

“We arrested or summoned 15 people in all, on over 110 charges,” Santaguida said Wednesday. “It is a monstrous stack of summonses, but they were arrested on one charge only, because one summons directs them to court. It’s a streamlined approach.”

Arraignments are expected to occur in February and April.

Those summoned include:

• Diane Huntress, 35, of Brownfield, on two charges of driving deer, one count of false registration of a bear, and one count of unsworn falsification.

• John Guptill, 19, of Fryeburg, on one charge each of false registration of a deer, illegal transport of a deer, and unsworn falsification.

• John Hart, 44, of Conway, N.H., on two counts each of hunting from or having a loaded firearm in or on a motor vehicle, hunting bear after having killed one, and unlawfully hunting bear. He was additionally charged with a closed season violation, criminal trespass, and night hunting.

• Keith A. Burnell Jr., 37, of Brownfield, on one charge each of false registration of a deer, illegal transport of a deer, and unsworn falsification.

• Ralph Burnell, 48, of Brownfield, on three counts each of hunting deer after having killed or registered a deer and driving deer, and one charge each of hunting antlerless deer without a permit, hunting from or having a loaded firearm in or on a motor vehicle, and illegal transport of deer.

• Richard Eastman, 50, of Center Lovell, on two charges each of hunting deer after having killed or registered a deer and one count each of exceeding the bag limit on deer and driving deer.

• Robert Johnson, no age given, of Lovell, on a charge of hunting from or having a loaded firearm in or on a motor vehicle.

• Terri Fowler, 48, of Fryeburg, on three charges each of driving deer and hunting from or having a loaded firearm in or on a motor vehicle, and one charge each of illegal transport of deer, false registration of a deer, unsworn falsification, and hunting deer after having killed or registered one.

• Timothy Perreault, 23, of Brownfield, on four charges of driving deer, two counts each of illegal transport of deer and hunting deer after having killed or registered a deer, and charge of exceeding the bag limit on deer.

• Thomas R. Guptill, 44, of Denmark, on two charges of driving deer.

• Wesley P. Burnell, 38, of Brownfield, on five charges of driving deer, two counts of having a loaded gun in or on a motor vehicle, and one count each of illegal transportation of a deer, possessing unregistered deer, and illegal disposal of offal.

Santaguida said Randy Burnell, Perry and Thomas Guptill are registered Maine guides. Eastman is a longtime Lovell selectman.

Santaguida called the poaching efforts that killed “dozens and dozens of deer” a conspiracy.

“Of the 15 people, maybe some of them didn’t know each other or they weren’t as organized as the Mafia, but if you have three or six people driving deer, that’s a violation of law. In my book, that’s a conspiracy,” he said.

Most of the illegal activity that took place centered around Perry’s residence and in the Brownfield-Lovell-Fryeburg area, Santaguida said.

“‘If it’s brown, it’s down’ was one of their favorite sayings when it came to poaching deer,” he added.

Officers confiscated more than 300 pounds of deer and bear meat, firearms, deer antlers and bear parts during searches.

Wardens and wildlife biologists had yet to assess the damage done to wildlife populations in the poached areas, but Santaguida said, the killings would “make a noticeable dent.”

tkarkos@sunjournal.com

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