From left, Rossford, Ohio Mayor Neil MacKinnon III, Rossford Walleye Roundup Tournament champions Jacob Runyan and Chase Cominsky, and Bass Pro Shops general manager Tony Williamson celebrate on Saturday, April 16, 2022, at Bass Pro Shops in Rossford. Prosecutors in Cleveland are investigating an apparent cheating scandal during the lucrative walleye fishing tournament on Lake Erie. A Twitter video shows Jason Fischer, tournament director for the Lake Erie Walleye Trail event, cutting open walleye and finding lead weights and prepared fish filets inside the winning catch of five fish to bolster their weight. Anglers Runyan and Cominsky were disqualified. (Isaac Ritchey/The Blade via AP)

Associated Press

CLEVELAND — Two anglers accused of stuffing fish with lead weights and fillets in an attempt to win thousands of dollars in an Ohio fishing tournament were indicted Wednesday on charges of attempted grand theft and other counts.

Jacob Runyan, 42, of Broadview Heights, Ohio, and Chase Cominsky, 35, of Hermitage, Pennsylvania, were indicted in Cleveland on felony charges of cheating, attempted grand theft and possessing criminal tools and misdemeanor charges of unlawfully owning wild animals. They’re due to be arraigned Oct. 26.

Neither man immediately responded to voicemails seeking comment.

The cheating allegations surfaced Sept. 30 when Lake Erie Walleye Trail tournament director Jason Fischer became suspicious because Runyan and Cominsky’s fish were significantly heavier than walleye of that length typically are. A crowd of people at Gordon Park in Cleveland watched Fischer cut the walleye open and announce that there were weights and walleye fillets stuffed inside.

An officer from the Ohio Department of Natural Resources confiscated the fish as evidence.

Fischer also did not immediately return a telephone call seeking comment.

Runyan and Cominsky would have received $28,760 in prizes for winning the tournament.

According to search warrant affidavits, the five walleye contained a total of eight 12-ounce (.34 kilogram) lead weights and two 8-ounce (.23 kilogram) weights, as well as the fish fillets. Officers from ODNR, the Hermitage Police Department and the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission seized a boat, trailer and fishing gear belonging to Cominsky on Tuesday in Pennsylvania. The anglers had used the boat during last month’s tournament, the affidavits said.

One of the affidavits disclosed that Runyan and Cominsky were investigated by Rossford police in northwest Ohio in April after being accused of cheating in a different walleye tournament. According to a Rossford police report, an assistant Wood County prosecutor concluded that although the men might have cheated, there was not enough evidence to charge them.