PRESTON, Minn., June 19 (UPI) -- A mother and son face theft charges after a southeastern Minnesota trapper reported thousands of gopher feet missing from his freezer, a court complaint said.
Tina Marie Garrison, 37, and her son, Junior Lee Dillon, 18, of Preston were charged with felony and misdemeanor theft counts after a trapper in Granger reported nearly $5,000 in gopher feet, used as bounty to claim government rewards to help reduce the gopher population, missing, Rochester's Post-Bulletin reported Wednesday.
The payment rate is $3 per pair of feet submitted, the newspaper noted.
Garrison pleaded not guilty and is awaiting trial. Dillon awaits a July 29 hearing.
Dillon turned in $1,014 worth of feet in November and Garrison $3,780 in December, figures the Harmony Township clerk said was unusually high. Garrison claimed at the time she and her son had been saving the feet for three years.
