BRANDON — Two Brandon men were fined last week after they pleaded guilty to deer poaching charges. Vermont Fish and Wildlife officials said that Griffith P. Mahoney, 28, and Jonathan R. Gallagher, 35, were involved in shooting a deer out the window of a truck at night with a crossbow.
On Dec. 6, 2015, at approximately 9 p.m., Vermont game wardens witnessed a truck approach a field in Pittsford. Someone shined an artificial light out of the truck and a crossbow was fired out the window. 
Wardens pulled the truck over, Fish and Wildlife officials report, at which point Gallagher admitted that he shot the crossbow and Mahoney admitted that he held the light. The men were also in possession of a muzzleloader rifle, according to the report. A freshly killed adult doe was found in the field. The pair were arrested and released on citation.
Gallagher pleaded guilty in Rutland Superior Court, criminal division, to taking deer by illegal means, possessing a cocked crossbow in a motor vehicle, and shooting from a motor vehicle. He was ordered to pay $1,307 in fines and restitution fees.
Mahoney pleaded guilty in Rutland court to taking deer by illegal means, possessing a cocked crossbow in a motor vehicle, and using a light to take game. He was ordered to pay $959 in fines and to serve 59-60 days of work crew duty. This was Mahoney’s fifth Fish and Wildlife conviction in just over a year.
Both men have lost their privileges to hunt, fish and trap in Vermont for three years.