# Ludington Area Retailer Charged With Larceny in License Sales Scam



## Hamilton Reef (Jan 20, 2000)

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 17, 2007

Contact: Mary Dettloff 517-335-3014 

Ludington Area Retailer Charged With Larceny in License Sales Scam

A Ludington area license agent has entered a plea agreement with the Mason County Prosecutors Office on a count of larceny by conversion between $200 and $1,000 for his part in a license sales scam.

Vaughn Flewelling, owner of the Hamlin Grocery, was arraigned in 79th District Court in Mason County last week and entered a plea on Monday. Judge Peter Wadel sentenced Flewelling to pay $23,000 in restitution to the State of Michigan. Flewelling paid $18,793.03 on Monday, and has 180 days to pay the remaining $4,206.97. He was also ordered to pay $440 in fines and costs, ordered to serve 40 hours of community service, and given 90 days in jail but suspended lieu of satisfying the ordered judgment.

Working on a tip received by a conservation officer from a woman who bought a restricted fishing license from Flewelling, the Special Investigative Unit of the Department of Natural Resources launched an investigation in the fall of 2006, with undercover officers visiting the Hamlin Grocery to gather evidence. The woman had purchased her license from the store in early 2006, and later that year visited a local Wal Mart store to purchase her all-species upgrade because she was going salmon fishing. Upon attempting to purchase the upgrade, the Wal Mart store told her they were not able to sell her one because there was no record that she had purchased the required restricted license. She ended up purchasing another restricted license, and later told the conservation officer she encountered in the field about the incident.

The large-scale investigation by the Special Investigative Unit showed that Hamlin Grocery had voided nearly 40 percent of their license sales, while the average retail license agent only voids 1 to 2 percent. The investigation showed that over a two-year period, Hamlin Grocery had stolen almost $25,000 from the State of Michigan through voided out license sales. The license sales terminal at the grocery store has been removed.

This scam defrauded the State of Michigan out of nearly $25,000 that would normally have gone into our Game and Fish Protection Fund to help pay for the day-to-day fish and wildlife activities of the DNR, said DNR Law Enforcement Chief Alan Marble. We are grateful to the hunters and anglers out there who offer us information and tips to help our investigations.

The DNR is committed to the conservation, protection, management, use and enjoyment of the states natural resources for current and future generations.


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## Hamilton Reef (Jan 20, 2000)

Store owner pleads guilty to misdemeanor in fishing license fee case

http://www.ludingtondailynews.com/news.php?story_id=35722

04/17/07 BRIAN MULHERIN - DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER 
[email protected] 843-1122, ext. 348

DNR alleges $23,000 taken from license customers, licenses voided 

Hundreds of people may have been unknowingly fishing and hunting with invalid licenses in Mason County in 2005 and 2006. 

The owner of Hamlin Grocery has agreed to pay the state $23,000 in money the Michigan DNR alleges was stolen by voiding those fishing and hunting licenses at the store after they were sold.

Vaughn Flewelling signed an agreement Monday, pleading guilty to a charge of misdemeanor larceny by conversion between $200 and $1,000. He had been charged with felony larceny by conversion between $1,000 and $20,000. He also agreed to 90 days suspended jail sentence, 40 hours of community service and $440 in court costs. 

Flewelling paid $18,973.03 on Monday and is expected to pay back the remaining $4,206.997 within 180 days. 

Flewellings attorney, Cris Van Oosterum, provided the Ludington Daily News a statement Monday after he was contacted Friday about being charged. 

Vaughn was surprised, disappointed, and of course embarrassed that the charge has been filed, the statement began. A statement issued Tuesday, which appears in its entirety on page A8 in todays Daily News, outlines financial difficulties brought on by an accounting issue and how Flewelling cooperated with the DNRs investigation. 

One customer complaint 

The Michigan Department of Natural Resources Law Enforcement Division alleged that Flewelling repeatedly voided license sales after giving customers their licenses. The money remained in the stores possession, but the licenses customers had were technically worthless because they had been voided. 

According to Detective Sgt. Wade Hamilton of the Traverse City office, the investigation started in the fall of 2006 when a customer complained to an officer checking her license.

After purchasing her standard fishing license at Hamlin Grocery, she attempted to purchase the all-species upgrade at another store so she could fish for salmon legally. She was told the computer would not accept that because she did not own a fishing license, according to the DNRs records. She was frustrated and purchased an entirely new license anyway. She was later checked by a Conservation Officer, to whom she explained the problem. 

The Conservation Officer forwarded the concern to a special investigative unit, Hamilton said. A review of Hamlin Grocerys license sales revealed a void rate of 37 percent. Hamilton said void rates of one to three percent are average. 

The DNR sent undercover agents to Hamlin Grocery to purchase licenses, Hamilton said. 

We found out our undercover agents licenses were voided as well, Hamilton said. 

That prompted a larger investigation, focusing on 2005 and 2006, Hamilton said. 

The investigation allegedly turned up more than $20,000 in voided licenses. 

Over $1,000 but less than $20,000 is what was authorized (as a charge), but we had almost 25 grand in licenses voided out and money pocketed by our defendant, Hamilton said. 

A different view 

Van Oosterum said the case was not handled in the way he would have liked. 

When the DNR came to investigate, Vaughn was totally and fully cooperative, Van Oosterum, former Mason County prosecutor, said in a statement. He fully admitted his responsibility, provided them with any and everything they needed. Friends and family got together to try to help and gathered the money to pay the DNR. Under all of the representations made at the time and all of these circumstances, we felt Vaughns case was perfect for the Prosecutors Office deferment program. The DNR and the prosecutor disagreed.


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