Two Wayne County men were arrested in connection with what authorities are calling a three-year scheme to illegally buy deer carcass tags and take deer illegally with those tags, according to state Department of Environmental Conservation Police Captain Michael VanDurme.

Reymundo Figueroa, 34, of Newark, was charged with four counts of first-degree offering a false instrument for filing and first-degree falsifying of business records, each count a felony related to making false statements when applying for deer carcass replacement tags on four occasions from 2005 to 2008.

Evan Storrs, 20, also of Newark, was charged with one count of illegally taking a deer (a misdemeanor) and two counts of illegally lending a license to another person (a violation). DEC police alleged that Storrs gave deer carcass tags issued in his name to Figueroa to try to legitimize deer illegally taken by Figueroa in 2007 and 2008.

Figueroa applied for and received replacement deer carcass tags at a Newark store in 2005, 2006 and 2008, police said. He said his original tags had been lost or stolen.

In each case, DEC alleged that Figueroa had not lost his original tags but had used them to tag a deer he had killed earlier in the season. Figueroa used the replacements to tag additional illegally killed deer.

In addition to felony charges, Figueroa faces three counts of illegally taking a deer, two counts of unlawful possession of wildlife and eight violations relating to improper tagging of deer carcasses.

“We just became aware of the activity during the past two months,” Van Durme said. He said the DEC received an anonymous call alerting them to the situation.

Each felony charge is punishable by imprisonment of up to four years. The illegal taking of a deer is a misdemeanor punishable by imprisonment of up to one year and a fine of $250 to $2,000 per count.

Unlawful possession of wildlife, lending a license to another and violations of tagging requirements related to taking deer are violations punishable by imprisonment of up to 15 days and a fine of up to $250 per violation.

During the investigation, DEC police officers executed a search warrant on Figueroa's residence and seized seven mounted deer heads and a quantity of frozen venison.

Staff writer Kathleen Barran can be reached at 253-5311, ext. 238 or kathleen.barran@lee.net