FRANKLIN, Pa. – The Pennsylvania Game Commission received information that venison bologna was being purchased at the counter of Pacileo’s Great Lakes Deer Processing.

[Photo courtesy Pennsylvania Game Commission]

The information was turned over to the agency’s Special Investigation unit and undercover officers made four separate purchases of venison products totaling approximately 185 pounds over a one-year period.

Seth John Pacileo, 37 years of age, operator of Pacileo’s Great Lakes Deer Processing, from Erie, PA was charged with four counts buying and selling game, and four counts of buying and selling game that was imported and not properly marked. The four ungraded misdemeanors and four first degree summaries could have carried penalties up to $18,000 and three years in jail.

The charges were filed in District Court 06-3-03 by State Game Warden Larry M. Smith on November 15, 2016. A preliminary hearing was held on March 14, 2017 in Erie County Central Court by District Judge Susan D. Strohmeyer. The charges were bound over to Erie County Court of Common Pleas. On January 3, 2018, a plea agreement was approved before Erie County Judge Stephanie Domitrovich.

The Erie County District Attorney’s office entered a plea agreement with Mr. Pacileo that placed him in the Accelerated Rehabilitative Disposition (ARD) program for nine months. No fines were assessed, but Mr. Pacileo was ordered to pay $3,640 in restitution for the cost of the venison purchases and laboratory testing fees. As part of the agreement, he will lose his hunting and furtaking privileges for a three-year period starting in July 2018.