Michigan Men Charged in 2019 Historic Elk Poaching Case

Three men that are all related were finally charged in the 2019 elk poaching case that officials consider "historic". That year was the worst year for elk poaching in Michigan and these three men were a big part of that.

According to MLive, Christian White, 29, of Gaylord, and Harry White, 70, and Ronald White, 56, both of West Branch, pleaded not guilty to a total of eight wildlife crimes after admitting to poaching three cow elk in Pigeon River Country in December 2019.

This is a case that conservation officers have been investigating for over a year.

Sgt. Mark DePew (case supervisor):

This case can be summed up with one word – diligence. Without our officers’ professional commitment to pursuit of the facts, these suspects would have gotten away with one of the worst elk poaching incidents I have ever seen. By utilizing teamwork, technology and good old-fashioned police work, this case could not have come to a better conclusion.

Ronald White (56) was only charged with taking an over-limit of elk while the other two had a number of charges.

• Christian White (29) - arraigned on four charges: Hunting deer without a license, taking an over-limit of elk, failing to make a reasonable effort to retrieve the elk and taking elk in the wrong hunting unit.
• Harry White (70) - arraigned on three charges: Taking an over-limit of elk, failing to make a reasonable effort to retrieve elk and taking elk in the wrong hunting unit.

If found guilty the men will serve a minimum of 30 days in Jail, with the max being 180 days. They could also lose their hunting licenses for 15 years and get hit with some serious fines.

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