Man gets 10 months in jail for hunting rabbits

Man gets 10 months in jail for hunting rabbits
Raymond Hillsman

ALBANY, Ore. (AP) — A Brownsville man convicted of violating his lifetime hunting suspension has been sentenced to 10 months in the Linn County Jail.

Sgt. Mari Chambers of the Oregon State Police says 58-year-old Raymond Hillsman was caught trespassing on private land while retrieving beagles he used to hunt rabbits.

Hillsman has not been allowed to hunt since a 1999 racketeering conviction. In that case, he was convicted of killing bears illegally and selling their gall bladders.

According to police, Chambers got a six-month sentence for violating the suspension, three months on a charge of criminal trespass with a firearm and another 30 days for being a felon in possession of a firearm.

Hillsman's ten month sentence in Linn County Jail is on the following charges:

  • 30 days for "Felon in Possession of Firearm"
  • 180 days for "Violation of a Lifetime Hunting Suspension"
  • 90 days for "Criminal Trespass with a Firearm"

He will also be placed on 36 months supervised probation with restrictions not to possess any game meat or any part of game mammal or fur-bearing mammal; not to engage in any kind of hunting or be with anyone who is hunting; and not to train any dogs for hunting or live with anyone who owns dogs for hunting.