Trial for $28K Lake Erie fishing scandal to begin today
Latest update: Fishermen who stuffed walleyes with weights during tournament plead guilty
Original report: The trial for two men accused of stuffing five walleye with lead weights and prepared fish fillets during a fishing tournament on Lake Erie begins Monday.
Jacob Runyan, 43, of Broadview Heights, Ohio, and Chase Cominsky, 36, of Hermitage, Pennsylvania, will stand trial at 1:30 p.m. Monday in Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court before Judge Steven Gall. Runyan and Cominsky have both pleaded not guilty to felony charges of cheating, possessing criminal tools and attempted grand theft. They were also charged with unlawfully owning wild animals, which is a misdemeanor.
According to NPR, the felony charges are fifth-degree and could result in punishment of up to 12 months in prison and $2,500 in fines. If they're convicted of the misdemeanor charges, their fishing licenses could be suspended indefinitely.
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The cheating allegations surfaced Sept. 30 when Lake Erie Walleye Trail tournament director Jason Fischer became suspicious because Runyan and Cominsky's fish were significantly heavier than typical walleye of that length. According to a previous AP report, Fischer cut the walleye open before an angry crowd at Gordon Park in Cleveland to reveal there were weights and fish fillets stuffed inside them.
An Ohio Department of Natural Resources officer confiscated the fish as evidence. The first-place prize in the tournament was approximately $28,000.
Runyan and Cominsky were indicted in October 2022 and pleaded not guilty to cheating and other charges. Both were released Oct. 26 on personal bonds of $2,500.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Trial for men allegedly involved in $28K Ohio fishing scandal to begin
