Two men who admitted cheating at a fishing tournament in Ohio last fall have been sentenced to 10 days in prison and other penalties, including losing a $100,000 boat.
Jacob Runyan, 43, and Chase Cominsky, 36, were sentenced Thursday in Cleveland after pleading guilty to fraud and illegal wildlife possession in March.
The bizarre cheating allegations surfaced in September when Lake Erie Walleye Trail tournament director Jason Fischer suspected the fish the duo returned appeared to be significantly heavier than a typical walleye.
A crowd at Gordon Park in Cleveland watched as Fischer cut up the freshwater fish and found lead weights and walleye fillets stuffed down the fish’s throats.
Jacob Runyan, 42, of Broadview Heights, Ohio, and Chase Cominsky, 35, of Hermitage, Pennsylvania, were sentenced to 10 days in prison and other penalties
The pair (pictured) originally won the tournament but were replaced by Steve Hendricks after the weights were found. The prize for first place in the tournament was around $28,000
Runyan and Cominsky originally won the tournament but were replaced by Steve Hendricks after the weights were found and they were disqualified.
The prize for first place in the tournament was around $28,000.
As part of their settlement, Runyan and Cominsky also agreed to a three-year suspension of their fishing licenses. Cominsky agreed to give up his $100,000 bass boat.
Prosecutors agreed to drop the charges of attempted grand larceny and possession of criminal tools.
Once the couple complete their 10-day sentence in the county jail, they will serve a year and a half of probation and each have to pay a $2,500 fine — but half the fine will be waived if they each donate $1,250 to a charitable organization who have favourited advertising makes fishing with children.
If they violate their probation terms, they could face an additional 30-day sentence in the county jail.
According to the search warrant affidavits, five walleye the duo submitted to the tournament contained lead weights and fillets. Officials from the Ohio Department of Natural Resources seized the fish as evidence.
According to court documents, Runyan and Cominsky were under investigation near Toledo in the spring of 2022 after being accused of cheating at another zander tournament.
According to a police report, a prosecutor in Toledo concluded that while the men may have cheated, there was insufficient evidence to charge them.
The dramatic find of the manipulated fish was filmed and posted on social media. One video shows Runyan being asked if he has anything to say about himself, but he remains silent the entire time.
The dramatic find of the manipulated fish was filmed and posted on social media. You can see the tournament director pulling lead weights out of the fish’s innards
Cominsky agreed to give up his $100,000 bass boat that the duo used in the tournament. The boat was confiscated by authorities after the fraud scheme was uncovered
Runyan and Cominsky were charged in October and pleaded guilty in March
The pair have been slammed as “cheaters” on the official Lake Erie Walleye Trail Championship Facebook event page and will be banned from all future tournaments.
The cheating scandal has raised questions about other tournaments the pair have won in the past.
They have already won several first prizes and made a significant sum of money at various Lake Erie Walley Trail (LEWT) events, including the 2021 championship.
The duo achieved the top catch at the 2021 Lake Erie Fall Brawl and attempted to win the $100,000 prize but were disqualified.
At another event, the Rossford Walleye Roundup in Ohio, several participants expressed suspicions that the pair’s fish “looked old” and might have been tucked away before the event started.
After the event, the pair decided not to donate their catch to a local food bank like most other fishermen.