Battles over allegedly burgled buck

A file photo of a white-tail buck deer stands in the field of Rodney and Dianne Miller's farm.

PITTSBURGH, Pennsylvania (AP) -- A deer breeder faces possible jail time for allegedly stealing a big buck -- worth big bucks -- from another breeder five years ago.

The buck named Goliath vanished from Rodney Miller's ranch in western Pennsylvania in 1999.

The Pennsylvania Deer Farmers Association allegedly located the creature in 2003 on Jeffrey Spence's farm in Reynoldsville, about 50 miles from Miller's place.

On Friday, state police charged Spence with theft, receiving stolen property and conspiracy to commit theft -- all third-degree felonies -- in Goliath's disappearance

Miller breeds deer to sell to other deer farms and ultimately to game farms, where hunters pay for the opportunity to bag trophy bucks.

Miller declines to put a value on Goliath, who weighs well over 300 pounds and has antler upon antlers. But he had offered a $100,000 reward, and other massive bucks have sold for more than $500,000.

Since its recovery, the deer has been the subject of DNA testing and an ongoing civil court fight.

At first Spence suggested the deer, whom he called Hercules and was trying to sell for $150,000, wasn't Goliath. But DNA testing on the recovered buck matched a sample taken from Goliath before he disappeared, Miller's attorney said.

Troy Harper, Spence's attorney in the civil case, said last year that even if the deer is Goliath, Spence acquired it "in the proper manner." He wouldn't say how.

Spence declined comment Monday.