The infamous duo of Chase Cominsky and Jacob Runyan, who were caught back in October of 2022 stuffing lead weights into the bellies of walleyes on Lake Erie to fraud the tournament organizers and other competitors to win the cash prizes, were sentenced on May 13, 2023 in Cuyahoga County Court in Ohio. They were sent to jail for 10 days, ordered to pay a $2,500 fine each and their boat was forfeited (valued at more than $130,000) to the Ohio Department of Natural Resources. They will have 18 months of probation, which if violated, will result in up to a year in prison.
On top of that, their fishing licenses are suspended for 3 years, the maximum allowable amount. But most folks believe their names are ruined for life. As convicted felons now, when they try to get a job, go dating, or show up at a boat ramp anywhere in the country, a quick internet search will plaster a million bad stories about them to anyone who looks.
Most anglers feel their punishment was not enough and a lot of anglers around Lake Erie are still plenty mad as the duo had won numerous tournaments leading up to getting caught which appears they probably cheated in all of them but without the actual proof like this event, nothing can be done to go after them for those amounts.
