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Posted: Thursday, September 20th, 2012 9:01 AM HST

3rd man faces charges in Hawaii game animals case

By Associated Press

HONOLULU (AP) — A third man is charged in connection with transporting invasive game animals from the Big Island to Maui. The Honolulu Star-Advertiser reports Big Island rancher Daniel Rocha is charged with providing the 14 mouflon rams that were transported via helicopter to a ranch on Maui in 2009. Maui helicopter pilot Thomas Hauptman admitted transporting axis deer to the Big Island and returning to Maui with 14 rams. Maui hunting ranch owner Jeffrey Grundhauser last month pleaded guilty to a federal misdemeanor for taking an unlicensed hunter to shoot game animals in a case stemming from a broader investigation into the interisland smuggling of harmful invasive species for hunting. He admitted supplying the axis deer and accepting the mouflon rams.