BIG PINE KEY, Fla. – A convicted felon accused of luring Key deer into a home, feeding them and even watching Fox News with one of them, now has bigger problems on his hands, according to jail records.
Thomas Geatal Scancarelli, 61, who is on probation for drug convictions, including cocaine trafficking, is now facing two charges of being a felon in possession of a firearm.
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Monroe County Sheriff’s Office deputies arrested him on the two felony counts just before 5 p.m. on Monday at a home he was staying at in the 2000 block of Coral Way on Big Pine Key, jail records show.
Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission officers first arrested Scancarelli last Tuesday on misdemeanor charges of taking an endangered species and feeding a Key deer by hand.
According to MCSO spokesperson Becky Herrin, FWC officers notified deputies of what appeared to be “two rifles and an AR-15-style weapon mounted on the wall.”
“They said they believed Scancarelli to be a convicted felon who should not have had those weapons in the house where he was staying,” Herrin said.
She said authorities charged him with the two felonies “due to his being in control of the firearms for the lengthy period of time he stayed there.”
The homeowner confirmed that the firearms were in the residence and said “Scancarelli did not have permission to stay in the home and was just supposed to be there painting it,” asking deputies to trespass him and have the locks changed, Herrin said.
Scancarelli, during his time in the home, is accused of taking multiple photos and videos on Facebook of himself illegally luring Key deer into the home and hand-feeding them.
Aside from a post about watching Fox News with a deer, other posts referenced training deer “to perform stupid animal tricks” and having at least three deer in his home at once, which he described as a “furry s--- show,” officials said.
Authorities said he appeared to be aware that what he was doing was a crime.
The FWC states on its website that feeding the deer is harmful primarily because it “lessens fear of humans.”
“Key deer can be found foraging in yards and on roadsides, where they approach people and slow-moving vehicles for handouts,” the agency says. “Getting hit by vehicles is now the primary cause of Key deer mortality. Illegal feeding also causes a concentration of Key deer populations, facilitating the spread of parasites and disease.”
Scancarelli is now being held without bond in MCSO’s Key West jail facility, online records show.