French Lick man arrested in hunting scam
A French Lick man is facing charges after allegedly drafting fake hunting leases and allowing his clients to trespass on multiple properties in Orange County, including the French Lick Resort property.
Samuel Hughes, 36, was arrested by Indiana Conservation Officers on Monday and incarcerated at the Orange County jail on charges of Theft, Level 6 Felony.
While responding to a trespass complaint on French Lick Resort property, Indiana Conservation Officers learned that multiple hunters from Michigan and other states had paid Hughes, owner of Nature’s Ridge Whitetails Outfitters, in exchange for a one-year exclusive hunting lease.
The investigation revealed that Hughes never had permission to lease the properties and had drafted the written contracts with unsuspecting out-of-state hunters for fees exceeding thousands of dollars.
Indiana Conservation Officers executed a search warrant on Hughes’ cell phone. Then during a subsequent interview, Hughes confessed to his involvement in the operation.
The investigation is ongoing, and additional witnesses and victims are being sought. Anyone that believes they may have been a victim of this operation or with additional information pertinent to this investigation is encouraged to contact Indiana Conservation Officers’ Central Dispatch at 812-837-9536.
Like everything else, he is innocent until proven guilty. He’s a good person and not all of the facts have been put out there just yet. Evan Carnes, that’s pretty rude. Child molesters and rapist are out there with no more than some probation but this should require someone to fry??!! Come on now!
Im pretty sure Evans comment was a joke cuz of how serious dubois county makes the news look over petty stuff.