West Bend, Wis. — A Brownsville woman allegedly involved in a southeast Wisconsin deer poaching case faces three misdemeanor charges that could result in $22,000 in fines and two years in prison jail time if convicted and maximum penalties apply.

Jessica Jill Kroening, 36, of Brownsville, was charged Oct. 23 in Washington County Circuit Court with contributing to the delinquency of a child, illegal deer or bear shining and obstructing a conservation warden, according to the complaint criminal.

The charges stem from the statements of three juvenile witnesses, who were also involved in the deer poaching incidents, and an adult witness. Witnesses related stories of alleged deer poaching in July and August to sheriff’s department deputies, local police officers and DNR conservation rangers.

Kroening and three 16-year-old males allegedly took part in an ongoing deer poaching case spanning about a year — from July 2023 through August over nearly 200 square miles in Fond du Lac counties, Washington and Dodge. More than 100 deer are believed to have been killed by the suspects during that time.

The case finally broke open in July after the sheriff’s departments in Fond du Lac, Washington and Dodge counties reached out to the media seeking help in solving the case.

According to the criminal complaint, DNR Game Warden Zachary Feest, of Hartford, and Fond du Lac County Deputy Trevor Theisen investigated a complaint of a foul odor coming from a garbage bag on Elm Street in Campbellsport. There they spoke with Kroening behind a duplex where they noticed a horrible smell, swarms of flies and a velvet horn sticking out of the bag. Kroening initially said she didn’t know what was in the bag, if the bag was hers, and said she couldn’t smell it, according to the criminal complaint.

Feest and Theisen asked Kroening for permission to search the bag. They found four dollar bills in the bag.

The discussion that day and the following days brought up the names of three 16-year-old males, who were named in the complaint as Juvenile 1, Juvenile 2 and Juvenile 3. Feest, Theisen, Campbellsport Police Chief Andrea Dowland and DNR rangers William Hankee, of Fond du Lac, and Paul Metzger, of Sparta, interviewed the three juveniles and other adults who had information about the alleged poaching.

One of the adults is identified as Witness 1 in the complaint. Witness 1 stated that Juvenile 1 “is the one killing them” (the deer) and that Witness 1 believed that Juvenile 1 had been shining and shooting deer for a little over a year with another person, Juvenile 2.

Law enforcement then interviewed Juvenile 2, who said they had been shooting deer at night with a spotlight and a rifle for about a year and had always used Kroening’s vehicle and firearms owned by Juvenile 1’s family. Juvenile 2 had stated that Kroening knew the youths were shooting deer and was on the phone with them while they were doing it. He also said that Kroening, sometimes holding the spotlight from the back seat, and others accompanied them to shoot deer.

Juvenile 2 stated that he most recently shot deer on Saturday, July 13, when Juvenile 3 was with him. Juvenile 2 stated he believed they shot three deer – two bucks and one doe. If they shot a deer, they left it in the field to rot, he stated in the complaint.

Officers then spoke with Juvenile 3 and his parents at their home in Campbellsport. Juvenile 3 showed officers where they shot deer in July – west of Kewaskum on Lake Bernice Drive, Townline Road and Highland Drive just south of Hwy. 28 in Washington County. An officer showed Juvenile 3 a photo of the four bucks seized from Kroening’s home earlier. Juvenile 3 stated that these were the bucks shot on Saturday, July 13th.

Juvenile 3 also admitted to attending and participating in the deer shooting
July 10 and 11 from midnight to 4 am

On July 25, Wardens Feest and William Hankee met with Juvenile 1 at his home in Campbellsport, where Juvenile 1 corroborated the information the investigative team had previously gathered. Juvenile 1 stated that he and Juvenile 2 had been out spotlighting and shooting deer for months. He estimated they went out 50 times. Juvenile 1 stated that he had saved heads of the most recent seven bucks to boil and make European mounts, but was unable to do so.

That same day, Kroening consented to a search of her vehicle. Hankee found a bloody steak knife, a bloody wood saw, a freaking Milwaukee searchlight, three bloody floor mats, a .22 caliber bullet, and two bloody pocket knives. Kroening eventually turned over two rifles the juveniles were using – a .22 caliber rifle and a 7mm rifle. The serial numbers were scratched off both rifles. In the report, Hankee said it appeared the numbers had been recently scratched due to the shiny metal the serial numbers were located on, as well as metal chips found on the stocks.

Any charges filed against the three teenagers will remain confidential due to their juvenile status. Juvenile trials, if charges lead to trials, will be held in Fond du Lac County. Juvenile cases are usually held in the county where the minors reside, regardless of where the alleged crimes took place. The names of the 16-year-olds will not be released unless they are waived in adult court.

Alleged criminal and civil violations of DNR wildlife codes include: mistreatment of animals resulting in death; possession of a dangerous weapon; hunting (shooting) deer with the help of artificial light; hunting during the closed season; possession of a firearm while flashing deer; possession of deer during the closed season; loading or unloading a firearm in or from a motor vehicle; discharging a firearm from or across a highway or within 50 feet of the center of a road; hunting within 50 feet of the center of the road; carrying a loaded firearm in or on a moving vehicle; possession of game killed by illegal or unknown means; hunting with weapons/ammunition of inherent design or used in a manner not reasonably capable of reducing the target to possession (ie shooting an animal without waiting for the animal to be successfully harvested); unauthorized taking of live wild animals from the wild; storage or evacuation of solid waste on public or private property; and obstructing a DNR conservation ranger.