February 11, 2012
By Charlene Shapiro, DelmarvaNow.com
SALISBURY -- Fines were not enough for the hunter who pleaded
guilty to shooting a wild pony on Assateague Island, a federal judge
said.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Victor Laws banned Easton
resident Justin Eason, 26, from hunting on any federal land for five
years after he admitted to accidentally shooting a 28-year-old wild
pony during a deer hunt at Assateague Island National Seashore. Laws
also ordered Eason to pay $3,000 in fines and $2,000 restitution for
the pony, and sentenced him to 18 months of supervised probation.
"I'm of the opinion that a fine alone is not enough to protect
the public and our natural resources," Laws said.
The judge
also sentenced Eason's father, Preston resident John Eason, to 12
months of probation and ordered him to pay a $1,000 fine after he
pleaded guilty to providing a false report to officers when asked
about the pony's death. Laws also banned him from hunting on federal
lands for five years and told him he would share responsibility with
his son for the $2,000 restitution.
"I realize you didn't
shoot the horse, but a lot of government resources were expended,"
Laws told John Eason.
Laws, referencing the Easons' previous
hunting violations, also said completion of a hunting education and
safety course would be a condition of their probation.
According to park rangers, a dead pony was reported the day after a
Jan. 15, 2011, sika deer hunt on Assateague Island. The pony, a
28-year-old bay mare known by identification number N2BH, had a
bullet wound in her shoulder.
Rangers said they removed a slug that had gone through her
ribcage and heart and exited the opposite shoulder. The Easons were
identified as suspects after they asked the day of the hunt if a
pony had ever been shot and what the consequences would be,
according to rangers.
Although both men denied knowledge of
the shooting in initial phone interviews, the younger Eason admitted
to accidentally shooting the animal during an in-person interview.
Rangers said he changed his statement twice during interviews.
"I didn't want to see anybody else get in trouble for something I'd
done,"
he told the judge.
Assistant U.S. Attorney
Christopher Romano agreed to drop charges of illegally taking of
wildlife and use of a weapon that endangers persons or property
against Eason if he entered a guilty plea to the charge of
destroying from its natural state living wildlife and knowingly
giving a false report. Fines of $2,500 and $1,500 were proposed.
Eason said he had no objections to the hunting ban or
restitution for the horse but asked the judge for lesser fines. He
said he had two children to support.
"It's going to take me
a while to pay whatever you decide," he said.
Assateague
officials said they were pleased to see the case -- the first of its
kind at the national park -- resolved.
"We got the
impression the judge treated it seriously," said Carl Zimmerman, a
management assistant at the park. "Hopefully this will serve as an
example for others to be more careful."
Zimmerman said there
were no incidents in this winter's sika deer hunt.
Fair Use Notice: This document may contain copyrighted material
whose use has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owners. We believe
that this not-for-profit, educational use on the Web constitutes
a fair use of the copyrighted material (as provided for in section
107 of the US Copyright Law). If you wish to use this copyrighted
material for purposes of your own that go beyond fair use, you must
obtain permission from the copyright owner.
