WAUPACA COUNTY, WI – Two of the three teenagers charged in connection with an alleged poaching and illegal shining case in Waupaca County and Portage County entered not-guilty pleas this week.
Court records show Ian Johnson, 18, and Landan Fuhs, 17, each face four misdemeanor criminal counts along with multiple citations. No trial dates have been scheduled. A third suspect, Ethan Lashua, 18, previously pleaded not guilty and is due back in court on Jan. 9 for a status conference.
All three are charged with hunting during a closed season and illegally shining wildlife. Johnson and Lashua also face charges of obstructing a conservation warden.
According to the criminal complaint, the investigation began Sept. 23 after a report of multiple gunshots, believed to be from a handgun, along Elm Valley Road south of Scandinavia. A week later, on Sept. 30, a tip was called into a Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources violation hotline reporting that occupants of a red car had shot an antlerless deer in a soybean field near County Highway V and North Foley Road. The witness provided a partial license plate number.
Investigators connected the vehicle to Fuhs, who admitted during questioning to shining and shooting at multiple deer and raccoons.
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