One of two men caught illegally poaching three endangered Key deer was sentenced Tuesday to 12 months in federal custody. The other received supervised release for a year.
U.S. District Court Judge Jose E. Martinez handed down the sentences to Eric Damas Acosta, 18, who received the prison term plus two years of supervised release after he gets out; and Tumani Anthony Young, 23, who received 12 months of supervised release with electronic monitoring. They were in federal court on Simonton Street in Key West.
Miami Gardens resident Acosta and Broward County resident Younge, 23, were arrested July 2 on Little Torch Key after a Monroe County Sheriff’s Office deputy pulled them over for a traffic violation and found the three deer in Damas Acosta’s four-door Hyundai Sonata. Two deer were in the backseat and one in the trunk. The buck in the trunk later had to be euthanized.
Read more from our news partners at the Florida Keys Keynoter.
