# Hey guys i need some advice



## MiniBuzz (Jan 18, 2009)

Ok the other day I was fishing by myself when my friend came up and joined me. Well he saw the warden driving acrossed the river and bolted. The warden came down questioned me and like a retard I froze and tried to lie at first. Eventually i realized how serious the situation was and told the truth and even called my friend to come back and face the Warden. Well i got a ticket for aiding an offender, deterring a wildlife officer, and fishing without a liscense. Well I had my liscense and he even checked also I did lie at first but i then told him everything and even called my friend to come back. 

I am going to go to court and see what I can do. Any advice or what do you guys think about the situation? please help.


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## fallen513 (Jan 5, 2010)

Hehe... uh... don't lie & don't run from the law. 


When you go to court, tell them you just made a bonehead move & didn't know how to react, you are truly sorry & in the future you will be completely honest.


That's about all you can do & should hopefully get you out of there with a slap on the wrist.


Good luck & don't fish with criminals.


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## spfldbassguy (Mar 23, 2009)

you just learned a valuable lesson my fellow angler....friend or not,never lie to the wildlife officer/warden...best approach is to be honest from the get go.i know you said that you eventually came clean & called your friend back but the damage was already done.it might sound mean on my part but whatever punishment you receive is deserved.the officers out there deal with enough crap as it is,so why add on to it.hopefully this will have taught you a lesson.good luck in the future & take care.


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## Streamhawk (Apr 25, 2008)

For one, you should just pay the tickets. Two, you should get better friends. A fishing license cost $19, that's it, really. Consider it a lesson learned about lying to officials. That's my advice.


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## ohiou_98 (Mar 19, 2007)

MiniBuzz said:


> Ok the other day I was fishing by myself when my friend came up and joined me. Well he saw the warden driving acrossed the river and bolted. The warden came down questioned me and like a retard I froze and tried to lie at first. Eventually i realized how serious the situation was and told the truth and even called my friend to come back and face the Warden. Well i got a ticket for aiding an offender, deterring a wildlife officer, and fishing without a liscense. Well I had my liscense and he even checked also I did lie at first but i then told him everything and even called my friend to come back.
> 
> I am going to go to court and see what I can do. Any advice or what do you guys think about the situation? please help.


Here's all the advice you need:

First, you could possibly go to jail if convicted. You need an attorney. If you dont have an attorney, or can't afford one, plead not guilty at your arraignment. If your finances qualify, the judge may appoint a public defender to your case. Either way, I don't recommend doing this alone. If convicted you could serve jail, probation and/or hefty fines. Also, depending on the particular offense, if found guilty, the judge could suspend your fishing license for up to three years. Get help.


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## ohiou_98 (Mar 19, 2007)

Oh, and a bit of advice to start with, discussing it on public forum is a no-no.


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## spfldbassguy (Mar 23, 2009)

ohiou_98 said:


> Oh, and a bit of advice to start with, discussing it on public forum is a no-no.


well said my fellow angler,well said


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## MiniBuzz (Jan 18, 2009)

Well i have learned a lot of lessons tonight. I am young and you all are right it was stupid.


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## crappie4me (Jan 25, 2009)

excellent attitude..take your lumps..then get on with life..and fishin


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## jwardy21 (Feb 27, 2009)

I was talking to a friend not long ago and he was telling me about riding around with his friend, a park ranger. I will give you the short version of this story. The park ranger heard one guy say I won't tell him you have beer if you don't tell him I don't have a license. So the park ranger questions them when he approaches them. The guy drinking lied and got a ticket. The guy fishing told the truth and he made him go to wal-mart and come back with a fishing license and show him that he bought it or he was going to get a ticket. I don't think everyone would be that nice but it just goes to show it's better to tell the truth.


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## Mean Morone (Apr 12, 2004)

Yes I think you have learned a valuable leason. When any government official asks to see your papers you better come up with them. At times I will have a license for Ohio, Kentucky and Tenn. Thats alot of money but doesn't mean a thing if I can't produce them. I've had Water Patrol brag to me about hauling offenders off in handcuffs to see a judge. Having no proof of having a license is a serious offense. I recommend humility in front of the judge.


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## Flathead76 (May 2, 2010)

You are looking at a nice fine and the court costs will be just as much as the fine. Get an attorney.


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## Whaler (Nov 16, 2004)

It's like the old saying goes " honesty is the best policy." A liar always gets caught and then winds up with a bad reutation.


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## MiniBuzz (Jan 18, 2009)

Yea, Ill surely never lie again to a warden or any officer its not worth it, I had my liscense i spent the money to get them why should my buddy not get in trouble for not having his. Like i said you live and you learn.


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## ur_averagejoe4 (Aug 18, 2009)

I have to chime in here. I don't see how he "needs" to get a lawyer. He is guilty, of EVERYTHING he is being charged for. I won't feel bad if he does serve jail time. It'll serve him right. Man up and take your punishment like a man, don't come on here and air your dirty laundry. The only thing giong for him is he was smart enough to get a license. I dispise people who lie to the law. Let us know when you're going to jail, or go ahead and waste money on a lawyer to get the same sentence. Grow up!


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## longhaulpointer (Mar 12, 2009)

your problem is that you didn't stick to your original "story". those a holes always give you that line "tell me the truth and it will be easier on you" bs, there lookin for saps to make thier jobs easier. With that said, get better friends and follow the rules.... but if you must lie, stick w it, and make them prove you guilty instead of surrendering yourself


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## farmem (Apr 11, 2010)

ohiou_98 said:


> Here's all the advice you need:
> 
> First, you could possibly go to jail if convicted. You need an attorney. If you dont have an attorney, or can't afford one, plead not guilty at your arraignment. If your finances qualify, the judge may appoint a public defender to your case. Either way, I don't recommend doing this alone. If convicted you could serve jail, probation and/or hefty fines. Also, depending on the particular offense, if found guilty, the judge could suspend your fishing license for up to three years. Get help.


I could see a fine / court costs but jail time for this ? About 5 years ago I was charged with a misdemeanor crime and the local court would not plea bargain until they sent out the subpoenas to rack up court costs ! Courts costs ended up being about three times more than the actual fine !


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## 82bassman (Jun 21, 2006)

I am so glad there are so many licensed attorneys on this forum for those of us who need legal advice. Hope that does not offend anyone but the attitudes in some of the responses to this incident are pretty poor. He who is without sin can cast the first stone, a good quote to live by for us all. Everyone on this forum has made a bonehead mistake and broke the law in one way or another, maybe you were caught maybe you were not. Either way coming down on him is not what OGF membership is about. Best advice- never admit or deny anything related to a crime on an open forum, it might be found and could be admissible in any court of law. I am not an attorney but worked for a small Police department for the past 10 years. The officer, all though right in the letter of the law, went overboard- in my opinion. I have threatened and even placed subjects in handcuffs while I tried to determine what the truth was and waited for a straight answer about a situation. Rarely did I charge anyone with obstruction or aiding, although there have been times that require an exception, this does not sound like one of those times. Minibuzz states that he has a license, prior to being talked to is my interpretation of his statement, but not on him at the time? and was run by the Warden to check. He can be ticketed for this, the same as anyone can be ticketed for failure to have a current operators license on them, current registration in the car and current proof of insurance in the car- all offenses for which a ticket can be written. However if there is not an accident that leads to the event of an officer being involved or a more serious charge rarely will any officer that I know ticket the offender for the charges (an exception would be someone that does not know when to exercise their right to remain silent), this is not in the best interest of the public image the department is trying to keep and project to the public. So the not having a license ticket may be removed at the discretion of the Magistrate, as long as it was bought prior to the incident. In Clark County misdemeanor charges such as this are heard by a magistrate, a local attorney who hears these cases to free up judges for more serious cases. As for the other charges, you will be given three options: Guilty-Not Guilty- No Contest. The magistrate will explain them to you prior to having you plead. Again I am not an attorney so if you feel it necessary contact one for a consultation. If you have a clean record and want it done with then no contest is a plea to consider. This plea allows you to make a statement in your defense. Explain what happened why you did what you did how stupid you know it was, plus always show a serious amount of remorse. The magistrate takes your statement and that of the officer into consideration then he decides to find you either guilty or not guilty of the charges. The officers statement may not even have the information that you made an attempt to get your friend to come back or that you cooperated fully after attempting to deceive the officer by divulging your friends name. All good information that will hold weight in your favor. You can also plead not guilty and have an attorney represent you in a pre-trial hearing, but that may cost you more than the original charges and court costs, as a side court costs go up with every day you take up their time in hearings. A guilty plea will also allow you to make a statement but you are admitting to all the charges on record. A good way to go if you want to throw yourself on the mercy of the Court. As for jail time, any offense can lead to jail time, although not likely in my opinion in Clark County as the jail is always overbooked during the week and on weekends it is worse thanks to all of the drivers who only had a "couple of beers" but could not remember how to drive. Keep your chin up. What anyone else that knows you only from this one incident says or thinks about you matters little in the grand scheme of your life. Chances of running into anyone on this forum and announcing who you are to them are fairly slim. Best of luck. Hope things work out and use this as one of the many learning experiences we all go through in our lives.


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## MiniBuzz (Jan 18, 2009)

Thank you i appreciate the posts on here where people actually act like real human beings and do not act untouchable or perfect. The story is I had my liscense and the officer checked them and saw them That is why i do not know why he put it on the ticket. Also, i made up for my lack of judgement by calling my friend and making him come back. I have heard stories of guys getting hit with fishing without a liscense going to court and only paying 25$ fine plus court cost. It just makes me feel so awful when people say i should go to jail. They do not know my story and what i do for my community. Matter of fact I am a recent nursing graduate, athletic coach at an area school, and active in my church. It was just one bonehead mistake for a 22 year old.


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## fallen513 (Jan 5, 2010)

No worries MiniBuzz...there are assholes in every group. All ya gotta do is look around...


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## ur_averagejoe4 (Aug 18, 2009)

I'm not an *******, I'm just calling it as I see it. What you do for your community is lie to fishing wardens and then turn around and say you go to church. That's very church going of you to lie about something as simple as what you did. I'm done, there's my 2 cents.


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## Lunkers (Mar 8, 2007)

Good Luck Buzzer,
Keep it simple. Take your lashings. If they want you in jail over this, they must have more jail space and revenue that they report. Poaching is a VERY serious offense. Your friend should feel much more pain than you .I would hope it is tough enough that he will never think about hitting our river without the proper permits again. You on the other hand, dont get in trouble for anyone. Sounds like you have good intentions and are very civic minded. We need you out there in the community working to promote responsibility, not in jail wondering how this ever happened.

PS.... Sure seems like they are looking for extra revenue out there this year. Get your ducks in a row and keep it legal. I have seen more officials this year than the last five combined........no joke!


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## MiniBuzz (Jan 18, 2009)

How are judging me for one stupid mistake saying it is so unchristian of me. Come on....... Be real i panicked and it was a stupid mistake. I am being shunned and stoned because I messed up. People make mistakes all the time it doesnt make them a terrible person. So your saying I should go to jail for panicking and telling a lie, then realizing the seriousness of the situation and making my friend come back to face the warden. 

I want to say thanks for the people who are in somewhat putting themselves in my situation instead of treating me like a murderer or a rapist.


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## fshnteachr (Jun 9, 2007)

82bassman said:


> Chances of running into anyone on this forum and announcing who you are to them are fairly slim. Best of luck. Hope things work out and use this as one of the many learning experiences we all go through in our lives.


Actually, I have been out several times and as I float by someone will say, are you Fshnteachr from OGF? Maybe it's the yellow kayak, but its happened.


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## crappie4me (Jan 25, 2009)

82bassman said:


> Either way coming down on him is not what OGF membership is about. i totally agree


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## gamefisher (Oct 1, 2009)

im impressed ive fished all over sw ohio for nearly 40 yrs and never once have i had my licence checked especially at acton lake if it wasnt for the sheriff's deputies that check boat safty i would sware there is no law enforcement at all


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## MiniBuzz (Jan 18, 2009)

Ive been fishing in the GMR for 10 years and not once have i encoutered a warden. I realize now that they are serious and all matters dealing with them are very serious. Like I have said numerous times I have learned my lesson.


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## TomC (Aug 14, 2007)

Could plea no contest. Your not pleading guilty and your not pleading innocent.


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## Streamhawk (Apr 25, 2008)

Lunkers said:


> Good Luck Buzzer,
> Keep it simple. Take your lashings. If they want you in jail over this, they must have more jail space and revenue that they report. Poaching is a VERY serious offense. Your friend should feel much more pain than you .I would hope it is tough enough that he will never think about hitting our river without the proper permits again. You on the other hand, dont get in trouble for anyone. Sounds like you have good intentions and are very civic minded. We need you out there in the community working to promote responsibility, not in jail wondering how this ever happened.
> 
> PS.... Sure seems like they are looking for extra revenue out there this year. Get your ducks in a row and keep it legal. I have seen more officials this year than the last five combined........no joke!


Well it's about time they got some officials out there. I have seen to many idiots out on the water.


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## ohiou_98 (Mar 19, 2007)

farmem said:


> I could see a fine / court costs but jail time for this ? About 5 years ago I was charged with a misdemeanor crime and the local court would not plea bargain until they sent out the subpoenas to rack up court costs ! Courts costs ended up being about three times more than the actual fine !


Yes, jail time is possible. For one, we don't know the exact offenses for which he was charged, but, one of them sounds like it could be "obstruction of official business" which is a misdemeanor of the first degree. A misdemeanor of the first degree is punishable up to 180 days in jail. Now, I'm not saying he would get 180 days, maybe it would be 1 day, or somewhere in between, or none at all. You don't know, I don't know, only the judge knows what he'll do. But, it is a possibility. And what happened in your case in your county does not necesarily indicate what will happen to this guy. 

When faced with any type of punishment, I would want an attorney to make sure I'm getting "just" punishment and no more.


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## I Fish (Sep 24, 2008)

I would definately get an attorney. Yea, they cost a lot, but chances are, if these are your first ever charges, they could most likely get the no license charge dismissed for sure, and the others possibly reduced, or maybe even dismissed as well. Funny how that works. I liken what you did to being the passenger in a speeding car that gets pulled over. If the officer says to the driver "Do you know how fast you were going?" The driver "Why, no sir. Was I going to fast?" Now you the passenger "Well officer, they were going about 80 in a 55 and they knew it. By the way, they didn't have on their seatbelt either, until they seen you behind us." I know it's hard to throw a friend under the bus, and I think you also just happened to be the victim of an over zealous ticket writer, as well. Isn't it funny how Game Wardens never give warnings? Good Luck..............


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## firstflight111 (May 22, 2008)

you cant beat the law


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## lpead (Apr 6, 2007)

Minibuzz, This can be a great forum for fishing information. But there is a very large "holier than thou" population on here. I wouldn't post anything like this again. If you were in Montgomery county you should be fine, otherwise, i don't know.

Of all the threads that have been closed, I can't believe this one is still going. I think this kid has takin enough of a beatin.


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## MiniBuzz (Jan 18, 2009)

Thanks for your support. Actually if a moderator reads this can you please close the thread. I already was a bonehead for lying now im a bonehead for posting it on here to hopefully get some advice from someone who may have been in my situation. I was to thank all of you who were encouraging. If you want to know how everything worked out just PM me.


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## Roscoe (Jul 22, 2007)

You all are lucky the Warden didn't have a Canine with him.The truth will come out quick when a mouth full of teeth are staring you down.I think all enforcement should have a dog when working by themselves.Less $$$ than another man. 

Roscoe:


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## fallen513 (Jan 5, 2010)

Update????


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## lacdown (Apr 25, 2007)

:0) Since they have cable and nice workout facilities, I'd assume they would also have internet access, correct? 

In all seriousness, I thought he was just going to court to appeal the ticket... if this assumption was right he should just pay the ticket, else they will also tag on court fees. At least this is what happened when my car odometer was broken and I tried to appeal a ticket in court.


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## LMRsmallmouth (Jan 10, 2006)

I cant believe where this thread started and ended up. If it is any help minibuzz....I got an out of state citation in 1992. I told the warden I didn't know I was across the state line (this was at KY lake, I lived on TN side). I got a ticket, I paid it, no big deal. Some people turn a little nothing into something, my bet is you pay your fines and go on with your life not worrying about what people on here say. I would say 99.9% chance you pay the fine and call it a day. Good luck man!


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## River Anglin (Feb 18, 2008)

Good grief! I honestly don't think you need to pay an expensive attorney and I wouldn't expect you to face any more than a fine. 

You had a license and you were fishing legally. The game warden stacked on some crappy charges (for you), but he/she was just doing his/her job. The judge gets to sort it all out. Prepare to open your wallet, but don't put extra money into a lawyer's pocket.

That's my very humble opinion


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## flypilot33 (Feb 9, 2006)

I will be irritated if jail time is given for something like I understand this to be. What a waste of money that would be. I would guess a small fine would be what happens.


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## firstflight111 (May 22, 2008)

1 never lie 2 stick to you story 3 never give up info its up to them to find out


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## fallen513 (Jan 5, 2010)

firstflight111 said:


> 1 never lie (fabricate) 2 stick to you story (especially if you lied) 3 never give up info its up to them to find out (that you lied)




.................


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## dre (Aug 14, 2009)

Don't mean to call anyone out, but ur_averagejoe, in my opinion your remarks are harmful and should have been kept to yourself. He said he wanted helpful information, not someone tearing him down telling how bad of a person he is. Your information just put even more fear into a 22 year old. Good job man.....


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