Landan W. Fuhs (left) was sentenced yesterday in Waupaca County Court
In what took about ten months to come to fruition, the last defendant in a central Wisconsin poaching case has been sentenced. The final domino fell yesterday in Waupaca County Court when 18-year-old Landan W. Fuhs of Scandinavia entered a no contest plea to one misdemeanor count of illegal hunting of a deer as a party to a crime. As part of a deal, the other counts he faced, including hunting deer during closed season and illegal shining of deer, were dismissed but read into the record.
For his actions, Fuhs, who investigators believe was forthcoming with information when arrested, was ordered to pay a $2,468 fine, complete 80 hours of community service, and will lose his hunting privileges for three years. Offering the young man a shot at redemption, the court made his record eligible for expungement so long as he meets all conditions of the plea and incurs no new violations.
This final appearance closes out the criminal cases against three Wisconsin teens first charged early in December of last year. Fuhs, then 17, along with 18-year-olds Ian W. Johnson of Amherst and Ethan L. Lashua of Iola, faced misdemeanor charges after a Wisconsin DNR investigation uncovered a rash of illegal hunting activity spread across the spring, summer and early fall of 2025.
According to court documents and statements given to wardens, as in many cases like this, the activity centered on nighttime shining and shooting at deer and even raccoons, often from vehicles and frequently using a handgun. Fuhs told investigators he had spotlighted and fired at what he believed to be between 12 and 15 deer over several months, striking three to five and recovering only two. He also admitted shooting at a handful of raccoons during the same period.
Wardens were later able to link the group to multiple incidents which included reports of gunshots along rural roads, the discovery of a headless deer carcass dumped near Peterson Creek, and a tip identifying a red Toyota Camry whose occupants were seen shooting at an antlerless deer from the driver’s-side window.
Lashua was separately tied to killing an 8-point buck with a crossbow in daylight hours where he removed the animal’s head as a trophy and dumped the carcass all while being without a license or tag. Both Johnson and Lashua initially gave conflicting accounts during interviews with conservation wardens about their presence at various incidents and who was actually shooting. Those inconsistencies led to additional charges of obstructing or resisting a conservation warden under Wisconsin law, which covers interference with a warden’s duties through false or misleading statements.
Fuhs was more reportedly forthcoming with detailed information about the crimes and avoided not facing that charge.
The other two defendants resolved their cases earlier this year:
Ian Johnson pleaded no contest back in April to resisting a conservation warden. He was fined, ordered to complete 80 hours of community service, and had his hunting and fishing privileges revoked for two years.
Ethan Lashua, now 19, pleaded no contest earlier this month as well to the same resisting a conservation warden charge. He received a $300 fine, 80 hours of community service, and a two-year revocation of hunting and fishing privileges.
In addition to the criminal dispositions, the three previously faced roughly $2,500 combined in separate DNR civil citations and forfeitures. All three were released on $1,000 signature bonds at the outset of the cases and had little or no prior criminal history.
