Three Amherst residents have been sentenced for poaching ginseng. Mickel and Sammy Branham both received15 days in jail and Deborah Branham was fined $300 in federal court last week. The trio was arrested in August after a ranger found them with 165 freshly dug roots of the medicinal plant. The also were in possession of a hoe, a screwdriver and beer on ice at a car parked at a Peaks of Otter picnic area along the Blue Ridge Parkway. All three, according to the New Era Progress, said they procure ginseng only for personal consumption.
Menu