Two Buckingham County men were convicted Dec. 18 in Buckingham County Circuit Court of selling wildlife or fish for more than $200 in a 90-day period.

Herman Burnley was sentenced to 12 months in jail with 12 months in jail suspended, five years of unsupervised probation and was ordered to pay $252 in court costs. Ricky Burnley was sentenced to 12 months in jail with 12 months in jail suspended, five years of unsupervised probation and was ordered to pay $252 in court costs.

Herman and Ricky were two of three men arrested in connection with a multi-year undercover investigation into the illegal commercialization, trafficking and sale of wildlife by the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries (DGIF) Law Enforcement Division. Herman and Ricky received the same sentence in Prince Edward County Circuit Court on Dec. 1. According to Buckingham Circuit Court documents, their sentences are to run concurrently with another.

Christopher David Powell, the third man arrested in connection with the investigation, received a sentence of 12 months in jail with 12 months in jail suspended, five years unsupervised probation and was required to pay $252 in court costs following being convicted in Prince Edward County Circuit Court on Dec. 7 regarding a charge of selling wildlife or fish for more than $200 in a 90-day period. Powell is set to be on trial in Buckingham County Circuit Court on Jan. 18 for a charge of conspiracy.

According to the Code of Virginia, Powell’s charge cites “if any person conspires with another to commit any offense defined in this title or any of the regulations of the Board of Game and Inland Fisheries, and one or more such persons does any act to affect the object of the conspiracy, he shall be guilty of conspiracy to commit the underlying offense and shall be subject to the same punishment prescribed for the offense the commission of which was the object of the conspiracy.”