In a case Conservation agents are calling one of Missouri’s largest cases of deer poaching, a Missouri judge has sentenced a deer poacher to watch the Disney movie “Bambi” once a month while serving out his yearlong jail sentence. David Berry Jr., the defendant who was ordered to watch “Bambi,” was one of four members of a southwest Missouri family caught in a multi-year poaching case where authorities say hundreds of deer were killed illegally.
According to the Springfield News-Leader, Berry must “view the Walt Disney movie ‘Bambi,’ with the first viewing being on or before Dec. 23, 2018, and at least one such viewing each month thereafter, during Defendants incarceration in the Lawrence County Jail.”
“The deer were trophy bucks taken illegally, mostly at night, for their heads, leaving the bodies of the deer to waste,” said Lawrence County Prosecuting Attorney Don Trotter.
“It is unknown how many deer the main group of suspects has taken illegally over the past several years,” added Lawrence County Conservation Agent Andy Barnes. “It would be safe to say that several hundred deer were taken illegally.”
Berry was also sentenced to 120 days in jail in a nearby county for a felony firearms probation violation.
Berry’s father, David Berry Sr. and his brother, Kyle Berry, were arrested in August after a nearly nine-month investigation that also involved cases in Kansas, Nebraska and Canada.
