SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — More than a week after similar charges were filed against three men in Grundy County, the Illinois Department of Natural Resources Office of Law Enforcement announced Monday new deer poaching charges were filed in Cook and Sangamon counties against five men from Illinois and Michigan.

The arrests came after a five month long deer poaching investigation.

Illinois DNR Conservation Police conducted an investigation into a group of hunters who were taking several trophy-quality whitetail deer. After a thorough investigation with the assistance of Michigan Department of Natural Resources Conservation Officers, Indiana Department of Natural Resources Conservation Officers and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, five hunters were charged with committing numerous Wildlife Code violations involving 31 whitetail deer. The largest buck, taken in Cook County, was a large non-typical deer scoring 213 5/8 inches and valued at $25,000.

"This is yet another example of the outstanding efforts made by the dedicated officers and staff within the IDNR Conservation Police," Illinois Department of Natural Resources Director Marc Miller said. "No matter what the season, Conservation Police are out there everyday watching, investigating and arresting those who break the law in an effort to protect the sport for the majority of outdoorsmen and women who choose to follow the law."

"The IDNR Office of Law Enforcement takes deer poaching very seriously," IDNR Conservation Police Chief Rafael Gutierrez said. "IDNR Conservation Police will do everything within our power to ensure that unlawful hunters are punished and prosecuted in order to protect our natural resources for the legal sportsmen who hunt in our state."

The five individuals involved in the investigation are being charged in Illinois with 42 violations for unlawfully taking deer, some of which were trophy deer worth thousands of dollars. The charges are listed below. All are Cook County charges unless otherwise noted.

• Louis C. Bergsma, 35, of Galena, Ill., who faces 12 charges, including two counts of unlawfully hunting on private property without permission from the landowner; two counts of unlawfully hunting whitetail deer with an invalidated archery deer permit; one count of failure to tag whitetail deer upon recovery; two counts of unlawful possession of a whitetail deer taken in violation of administrative rule; one count of unlawfully hunting without a valid non-resident hunting license; one count of unlawfully hunting whitetail deer without a State Habitat Stamp; two counts of falsifying IDNR harvest records (Sangamon Co.); and one count of failure to report harvest as required (Sangamon Co.)
    
• Jonathan P. Bergsma, 33, from Ada, Mich., who faces nine charges, including two counts of accessory to unlawfully hunting on private property without permission from the landowner; two counts of accessory to unlawfully hunting whitetail deer with an invalidated archery deer permit ; two counts of accessory to the unlawful possession of a whitetail deer taken in violation of administrative rule; one count of unlawfully hunting without a valid non-resident hunting license; one count of unlawfully hunting whitetail deer without a State Habitat Stamp; and one count of falsifying IDNR harvest records (Sangamon Co.)

• Douglas J. Bergsma, 60, of Rockford, Mich., who faces six charges, including, one count of unlawfully hunting on private property without permission from the landowner; one count of unlawfully hunting whitetail deer with an invalidated archery deer permit; one count of unlawful possession of a whitetail deer taken in violation of administrative rule; one count of unlawfully hunting whitetail deer without a State Habitat Stamp; one count of falsifying IDNR harvest records (Sangamon Co.); and one count of failure to report harvest as required (Sangamon Co.).

• Daniel E. Bergsma, 27, from Ada, Mich., who faces six charges, including two counts of unlawfully hunting whitetail deer with an invalidated archery deer permit; two counts of unlawful possession of a whitetail deer taken in violation of administrative rule; and two counts of falsifying IDNR harvest records (Sangamon Co.).

• Tom E. Hedke, 33, of Caledonia, Mich., who faces nine charges, including one count of accessory to unlawfully hunting on private property without permission from the landowner; two counts of accessory to unlawfully hunting whitetail deer with an invalidated archery deer permit; two counts of accessory to the unlawful possession of a whitetail deer taken in violation of administrative rule; two counts of unlawfully hunting without a valid non-resident hunting license; and counts of unlawfully hunting whitetail deer without a State Habitat Stamp.

Additional charges are pending. If anyone has information about illegal activities in the field, they are encouraged to call the IDNR Target Illinois Poacher Hotline at 1-877-2DNRLAW (1-877-236-7529).

The charges against these five men come on the heels of a criminal complaint filed last week in Grundy County Circuit Court against three individuals, including Christopher Kiernan, 45, of Minooka, after an 11-month investigation into another deer poaching case.

The three men were cited for numerous Wildlife Code violations, including illegally taking a potential state-record 36-point whitetail deer valued at $35,000. They now face charges through Grundy County State�s Attorney John Bates' office.