A former Wyoming man who had moved to Alabama has been busted for illegally killing a deer 26 years after the fact, and after dodging a bench warrant for 24 years.
Some retired Wyoming game wardens said that sort of thing occasionally happens, recalling suspects dodging penalties by disappearing.
Kenny Craig, 53, of Elkmont, Alabama was arrested in March 2024 on a bench warrant that had been issued in February 2000, according to a report released Wednesday by Wyoming Game and Fish.
Craig formerly lived in Lysite, Wyoming. In 1998, he was cited for killing a deer without a proper license, according to Game and Fish.
On Oct. 24, 1998, Craig killed a five-by-five mule deer buck in Wyoming Deer Hunt Area 157 near Riverton, Game and Fish reported. “Five-by-five” refers to a buck with five antler points on each side.
The problem was, he had a general deer tag, while Hunt Area 157 was a draw tag only area.
Draw tags must be applied for in advance, with no guarantee that the hunter will draw that tag. A draw tag is good only in the specified hunt area applied for.
General deer tags may be bought over the counter at any time and are valid in any area in Wyoming designated as a general tag hunt area. But they are not valid in the specified draw tag hunt areas.
Justice Finally Served
On June 25, 2024, Craig was convicted in Fremont County Circuit Court. He entered a no-contest plea to taking a deer without a license, according to Game and Fish.
He was ordered to pay $410 in fines and court costs, plus $1,000 in restitution for illegally killing a mule deer buck, according to Game and Fish.
Under a plea agreement, three additional charges stemming from the 1998 case were dropped.
His hunting, fishing and trapping privileges were suspended for three years. Under the Interstate Wildlife Violator Compact, a suspension of privileges in one state means that they’re also suspended in all 49 other states.
It Happens, Wardens Say
Retired Game and Fish game wardens Duanne Kerr and Joe Sandrini told Cowboy State Daily that they weren’t surprised to hear about a case dragging on for decades because the suspect just blew it off.
“Oh yeah, that does happen,” said Sandrini, who retired as a game warden in 2002, and then fully retired from Game and Fish in 2024.
Kerr, who retired from in 2014, agreed.
“That’s always been a problem,” he said. “I can’t say it was a super-regular occurrence, but it happens a lot.”
Still Has Incriminating Video From 1993
Sandrini said when he was on duty one day in 1993, he watched an ice fisherman pull a gigantic lake trout out of Flaming Gorge Reservoir while his friend filmed it with a video camera.
He approached the men and asked for the angler’s fishing license.
When the man who caught the lake trout told him that he’d forgotten his fishing license at home, Sandrini told him to produce his fishing license, along with a copy of the video tape, as soon as possible.
The man complied. But when Sandrini cross-checked the purchase date on the fishing license, he realized that the man had bought it after his encounter with Sandrini on Flaming Gorge.
Sandrini issued a citation for fishing without a license, but the man skipped out on the charge, he said.
“I still have a video of him fishing without a license, and I’ve never seen him again to this day,” he said.
‘His Trailer House Had Been Moved’
Kerr said that sometimes suspects move away, as Craig apparently did, and continue to blow off citations and/or court dates.
Sometimes bench warrants are issued, sometimes not, he said.
“It depends on the judge and the court, and whether there would be enough interest to issue a warrant,” he said.
If a bench warrant is issued, it becomes a matter of finding the suspect, he said.
“Sometimes, you can just go find the guy at his house. Other times, he just might have moved,” Kerr said.
He recalled one case from many years ago when he was trying to trace down a man he’d cited for a fishing violation.
“I finally asked for help from a neighboring warden,” Kerr said. “That warden went to serve the warrant where the guy was thought to be living, and found out that his trailer house had been moved the day before.”
When people move across state lines, things can get difficult, he said.
“Usually, you can’t extradite people on a game and fish violation,” Kerr said. “Sometimes, if you got lucky, they’d come back to Wyoming to do something else, and you’d find them then.”
He added that in the long run, time is on the wardens’ side.
“On game and fish stuff, there isn’t any statute of limitations,” he said.
Mark Heinz can be reached at mark@cowboystatedaily.com.
