OSHKOSH (NBC 26) — Wisconsin's former top sturgeon biologist has been convicted of obstructing a DNR warden in connection to an investigation into the caviar trade on Lake Winnebago.
Ryan Koenigs appeared in Winnebago County court Friday morning and pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor charge of obstructing a DNR warden. He was ordered to pay a $50 fine plus costs.
The obstruction charge was amended from a count of misdemeanor theft of movable property valued at less than $2,500 that was filed following a DNR and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service joint investigation into allegations that DNR workers had been illegally selling or trading sturgeon caviar in violation of state and federal law.
According to the criminal complaint, Koenigs served as the DNR’s top sturgeon biologist since 2012 and was the lead coordinator for the department’s spearing season, which is held every February on the Lake Winnebago system. He oversaw the roughly 60 DNR workers who staff registration stations during the season.
The investigation, which began in 2017 and culminated in January 2020, uncovered multiple people who were illegally selling, purchasing, bartering or trading sturgeon eggs, the complaint states.
-The Associated Press contributed.
