(HURON COUNTY) – Two Huron County men were arraigned in Huron County recently for illegal possession of panfish, perch and walleye.
According to court records, 68-year old Stanley Garbacz Jr. and 53-year old Bruce Warren of Pigeon, turned themselves in to authorities earlier this month.
Garbacz Jr. faces two charges of over limit possessions; one charge for perch and one charge for walleye, and must pay $7,930 in restitution.
Warren was arraigned on one charge of taking a daily over limit of perch and owes $600 in mandatory restitution.
Both men are facing additional court fines and costs and could lose their fishing privileges at a future sentencing hearing.
Michigan DNR officials received a tip from a hotline that Garbacz was allegedly at his residence in possession of a few hundred perch.
DNR officers and deputies discovered a large number of fish being cleaned.
Police counted 170 perch that Garbacz and Warren caught earlier in the day- putting them each over the daily catch limit by 60 perch.
In addition, police found 85 bags of frozen fish in four of Garbacz’s freezers containing 35 walleye, 245 pan-fish and nearly 400 additional perch.
The men are scheduled to be back in court in the coming weeks.
