Four people were charged for organizing a scheme to scam turkey hunters in Charlotte and Hardee counties.
According to Florida Fish and Wildlife (FWC), Larry William Collins, David Preston Mills, Paul Neil Beckham and Vernon Robert Flowers were charged for the fraudulent scheme.
Investigators determined the group advertised the hunts through the Razzor Ranch website. However, the unsuspecting victims who thought they were getting a genuine Osceola turkey hunt instead were guided to hunt pen-raised turkeys bred to look like the Osceola species.
FWC investigators verified the turkeys weren't actually Osceola turkeys by conducting DNA analysis on the hunted turkeys' feathers.
Other characteristic differences they noticed were size, feather coloration and leg structure. This further confirmed the turkeys were pen-raised and not wild Osceolas.
Reports say the operation involved Collins, who ran the Razzor Ranch Blanket Hunting Preserve in Hardee County, and Mills, who managed a game farm in Charlotte County where the nonwild turkeys were raised.
According to FWC officials, Mills and Beckham acted as guides, leading the hunts, and Flowers, owner of Skins and Scales Taxidermy, mounted the fraudulent turkeys for the victims.
Collins got kickbacks from Flowers for referring taxidermy business. He also reportedly advertised, promoted and scheduled "Osceola" turkey hunts in Charlotte and Hardee counties.
Collins accepted the money for the hunts while Beckham and Mills guided the victims to hunting locations to hunt a pen-raised turkey, according to the news release.
FWC said the turkeys were bred and raised by Collins to appear as Osceola turkeys.
The four individuals are facing the following charges:
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Larry Collins, 58, of Punta Gorda: Organized fraud, conspiracy to commit organized fraud, cheating, unlawful use of a two-way communication device.
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David Mills, 57, of Arcadia: Organized fraud, conspiracy to commit organized fraud.
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Paul Beckham, 49, of Punta Gorda: Organized fraud, conspiracy to commit organized fraud, cheating, unlawful use of a two-way communication device.
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Vernon Flowers, 71, of Naples: Organized fraud, conspiracy to commit organized fraud.
They were charged in Hardee County.
According to the FWC, the Osceola turkey is only found in peninsular Florida. Officials said a way the Osceola turkey is distinguished from Floeida's eastern wild turkey by the white barring on its wing feathers.
For more information on hunting wild turkey in Florida, you can visit the FWC website here .