Two Texas poachers' penalties to be reassessed

A federal appeals court has overturned the prison sentences of two Texas brothers who ran a hunting camp in Kansas where hunters paid thousands of dollars to illegally shoot deer, sending the case back to district court where the men will be resentenced.

The 10th Circuit Court of Appeals said in its decision Thursday that the district court made a mistake in sentencing James and Marlin Butler by basing the value of the wildlife on the full price of a guided hunt rather than the actual value of the animals.

The Butlers, of Martinsville, Texas, ran Camp Lone Star near Coldwater, Kan. The investigation is believed to be one of the largest criminal prosecutions involving the illegal taking of deer (similar to the Texas white-tailed buck shown  here).

The Butler brothers were convicted under the Lacey Act, a federal law that prohibits interstate transport of any wildlife taken in violation of state regulations.

But the appeals court took issue with U.S. District Court Judge Wesley Brown's valuation of the animals involved.

Read more here.

-- The Associated Press