West Greene School Board member accused of poaching in Ohio
{child_flags:editors_pick}West Greene School Board member accused of poaching in Ohio
{child_byline}By Mike Jones
Regional editor
mjones@observer-reporter.com
{/child_byline}
A West Greene School Board member is accused of poaching over several years in Ohio while recording some of the hunts for an internet television show.
Robby Gilbert, 39, of Aleppo Township, was one of seven people indicted earlier this month by a Jefferson County (Ohio) grand jury and accused of poaching following a multi-agency investigation that spanned five states.
Gilbert was charged March 9 in the 18-count indictment after authorities said he and two other men poached deer and turkey on at least six occasions around Steubenville, Ohio, between 2011 and last April.
Investigators said Gilbert hunted with Nathan Cline, 39, of Steubenville, and Marlon Hale 39, of Irondale, Ohio. They allegedly trespassed on private and public property, hunted out of season and failed to tag their harvests.
Gilbert and the men allegedly profited from the poaching by “receiving monetary payments for videotaped productions of the illicit scheme,” investigators wrote in the indictment.
Over the past few years, Gilbert hosted a popular YouTube television show called “Trapping Time” that ran for three “seasons” and attracted more than 1,000 subscribers to his channel. In the shows, which include advertisements and commercial breaks, he travels across the country and describes to viewers various hunting and trapping techniques. Cline appears in at least one of the 25-minute episodes.
The Ohio attorney general’s office spearheaded the investigation and was assisted by Pennsylvania Game Commission officers, who searched Gilbert’s home.
Gilbert won a write-in campaign in November 2015 with 17 votes and began serving on West Greene School Board in 2016, according to the Greene County elections office. His term is set to expire at the end of 2019. West Greene Superintendent Brian Jackson did not return a phone message seeking comment.
Attempts to reach Gilbert at his Aleppo Township home were unsuccessful Friday.
Gilbert faces felony charges of engaging in a pattern of corrupt activity, theft and possessing criminal tools. Gilbert also was charged with several misdemeanors, including six counts of hunting without permission, three counts of petty theft, two counts each of failure to permanently tag wild white-tailed deer and theft, along with one count each of failure to permanently tag wild turkey, hunting with the use of a motor vehicle and leaving the state with an untagged turkey.
Four other men also were indicted in separate incidents not related to Gilbert’s charges. Another person, Jason Cue, already has pleaded guilty in West Virginia to charges related to the investigation. Authorities from West Virginia, Texas and Washington also were involved in the investigations of the other incidents.