Fishing Tournament Duo Receives Jail Sentences After Pleading Guilty to Cheating

The pair pled guilty after weighing down their fish during a tournament to make their catches seem heavier.

At long last, the notorious Lake Erie fishing tournament scandal has reached its conclusion.

More than six weeks after Jacob Runyan and Chase Cominsky pled guilty to a felony charge of cheating and a misdemeanor for unlawful ownership of wild animals, the duo was sentenced on Thursday at a Cuyahoga County court to 10 days in jail and 1 1/2 years probation, according to USA TODAY‘s Steve Gardner.

Judge Steven Gall also ordered the men to each pay a $2,500 fine, while felony charges of attempted grand theft and possessing criminal tools were dropped.

Runyan, 43, and Cominsky, 36, were accused of cheating after winning a tournament at the Lake Erie Walleye Trail Championship event last September. Shortly after their victory, a tournament official cut open their winning fish and discovered the pair had added weights to them. That led to their disqualification, and forfeiture of the approximate $28,000 prize for first place.

In addition to their jail sentence, Runyan and Cominsky also had their fishing licenses suspended for a maximum of three years, and were forced to forfeit the boat they had used during the tournament—which had a valuation of approximately $130,000.

“There’s seemingly endless public humiliation for these guys,” defense attorney Gregory Gentile said, per Gardner. “These guys are going to have to suffer this forever; when they go on a date, when they find a job. When they get Googled, this case is gonna show up forever.”