FISHING CHEATERS SENTENCED

Two men accused of stuffing fish with lead weights and fish fillets in an attempt to win thousands of dollars in an Ohio fishing tournament last fall pleaded guilty Monday to charges including cheating.

The cheating allegations surfaced in September when Lake Erie Walleye Trail tournament Director Jason Fischer became suspicious when the fish turned in by Jacob Runyan, of Broadview Heights, Ohio, and Chase Cominsky, of Hermitage, Pennsylvania, were significantly heavier than typical walleye.

A crowd of people at Gordon Park in Cleveland watched as Fischer cut the walleye open and found weights and walleye fillets stuffed inside.

As part of a plea deal, Runyan and Cominsky pleaded guilty to cheating and unlawful ownership of wild animals and agreed to three-year suspensions of their fishing licenses. Cominsky also agreed to give up his bass boat worth $100,000.

Prosecutors agreed to drop attempted grand theft and possessing criminal tools charges.

If you don’t remember the infamous fishing weight scandal, then you have a lot of "catching" up to do with this infamous saga. 

These guys had been winning tournaments getting $100k in prizes and boats. They are now having to give much of the prizes back; a lot of their fellow competitors wish they got jail time because maybe they would end up a little like the fish that got their cavities stuffed with weights, just in prison, they treated certain cavities differently. 

A new video from the original competition has now surfaced of their fish on the scales and the crowd's original reaction. 

I really don’t think just them giving back the boat and not being able to fish for three years is enough. I think they should be banned from competitive fishing for life. The amount of people they screwed over is insane and totally out of control. Fishing competitions used to mean something, ya know? When I was a boy these guys were my heroes. Finding out they are cheating makes me sick. At least we have a little justice now.