A sentencing hearing was held in Mathews General District Court last week in the case of a Mathews man who engaged with cohorts in an illegal hunting spree in 2024 that crossed into multiple jurisdictions. Raymond Elmore Godsey IV of Port Haywood was sentenced to 54 months in jail on eight of the 17 Mathews crimes he was convicted of during a trial held in January. All except 20 days of jail time was suspended for one year as long as he is of good behavior, completes probation and community service, and doesn’t hunt or have any involvement with a hunt club. Additionally, his license to hunt was suspended for a total of 16 years, and he was ordered to stay away from Mathews County property on Ridge Road. He was also ordered to pay $2,100 in fines, $664 in court costs, and $2,000 in replacement fees to the Commonwealth of Virginia for certain animals he killed. Godsey has appealed four of the convictions. Three of those were for taking wildlife during closed season and one was for exceed...