Two Plead Not Guilty To Cheating In Fishing Tournament

CLEVELAND (AP) – Two men accused of stuffing five walleye with lead weights and fish fillets during a lucrative fishing tournament on Lake Erie have pleaded not guilty to cheating and other charges. Forty-two-year-old Jacob Runyan, of Broadview Heights, Ohio, and 35-year-old Chase Cominsky, of Hermitage, Pennsylvania, were arraigned Wednesday in common pleas court in Cleveland. Their attorneys declined to comment after the hearing. 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 normally are. A crowd watched Fischer cut open the walleye and announce there were weights and walleye fillets stuffed inside them.