Wisconsin deer-poaching scheme; woman gets jail time, fine

article

Jessica Kroening

WEST BEND, Wis. - A West Bend woman was sentenced to 30 days in jail and fined on Friday for what investigators described as a deer-poaching scheme.

In court

What we know:

Jessica Kroening, 37, pleaded guilty last month to two misdemeanors: contributing to the delinquency of a child and illegal shining of deer. A third misdemeanor, resisting a conservation warden, was dismissed.

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What we don't know:

The Fond du Lac County Sheriff's Office and Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources said juvenile charges against three teen boys were referred as well. It is unclear where those cases stand.

Washington County Jail

Deer death investigations

The backstory:

According to the sheriff's office, investigators had reason to believe that "well over" 100 deer were shot and/or killed from late spring 2023 to July 2024. The alleged crimes happened in the 200-square-mile region between Campbellsport, Lomira, Theresa, West Bend and Kewaskum.

Most of the activity happened after dark and would continue well into the early morning hours of the next day, the sheriff's office said. The suspects would drive around with a spotlight shining fields; when a deer was spotted, the suspects would allegedly fire a rifle from the vehicle at the animal. Many of the excursions involved shooting multiple deer in one night.

Wisconsin deer-poaching scheme

If they believed a deer was shot, the sheriff's office said the suspects would go into the field to identify the sex of the deer. Most of the animals they found dead would be left to rot where they lay, but the heads of some bucks were removed – particularly when the buck had large antlers. Other deer were wounded but not killed. 

Investigators also determined the suspects would drive around with plans to hit deer in the roadway with their vehicle, according to the sheriff's office. In one incident, the deer survived but was severely wounded. The teens picked the deer up, placed it in the trunk of their vehicle and took "selfies" with the deer.

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The sheriff's office said the teens drove around to various locations with the deer still alive and wounded in the trunk or back seat and continued to take videos. One of the videos showed the suspects holding the deer – "still alive but clearly suffering" – while walking around the inside of their home. The deer eventually died while in their captivity hours after it was struck.

In another incident last spring, the sheriff's office said the suspects found a fawn along the road and captured it. The fawn was also placed in a vehicle and driven around, taken inside their home and later released back into the wild.

The sheriff's office said, in addition to capturing and/or killing deer, investigators obtained evidence to believe the same suspects also targeted and harassed other animals – including geese, raccoons, possums and turtles. The animals would often be "captured, held in captivity and harassed" before they were released.