Former Oregon corrections officer receives lifetime hunting ban, fined over $114K

PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — A former Oregon corrections officer received a lifetime hunting ban on Wednesday after pleading guilty to several poaching-related charges.

Christopher Mason, 49, of Umatilla, was sentenced in two separate court cases to 24 months of probation and 300 hours of community service. He was also fined over $114,000 and was required to forfeit his firearms.

Oregon State Police said they began investigating Mason in 2024 after receiving information that he had been poaching big game animals.

“In February 2025, OSP served a search warrant, and multiple big game animals and firearms were seized as evidence. Sixty-seven criminal charges were referred for prosecution,” officials said. “The charges spanned multiple counties.”

Mason pleaded guilty to four counts of unlawful take of buck deer and three counts of unlawful take of black bear on June 18. In a separate case on June 26, he pleaded guilty to unlawful possession of a short-barreled rifle, unlawful possession of a silencer, unlawful possession of multiple wildlife and unlawful take of mule deer.

“This is another example of serial poaching which rises to the level of felony conduct based solely on the repeated poaching conduct and impact of one individual on Oregon’s game mammals,” prosecutor Jay Hall said. “The conduct across the several counties amounts to one of the highest damage amounts done to Oregon wildlife by any singular actor.”