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BEAUMONT — A 20-year-old man on probation after pleading guilty in 2016 to shooting and killing two of the approximately 500 remaining free-ranging whooping cranes was sentenced Thursday to serve 11 months in federal prison for violating terms of that probation.

In a federal court hearing, U.S. Magistrate Judge Zack Hawthorne sentenced Trey Joseph Frederick of Beaumont to 11 months in federal custody followed by a year of supervised release after finding Frederick had violated seven terms Hawthorne had set when he sentenced Frederick in October, 2016. Those probation violations included not complying with prohibitions on hunting or fishing anywhere in the United States or owning or possessing a firearm or ammunition during the five-year probation.

At the Thursday hearing, Hawthorne also imposed mandatory guidelines for Frederick to begin paying a restitution fee of $25,815 he'd ordered as part of sentencing in the original case. Frederick's lack of any payments toward that restitution was one of eight probation violations Assistant U.S. Attorney Joseph Batte alleged in the revocation hearing.

"At your (October) sentencing, I'd asked you if you had any question what I would do if you violated those conditions (of probation)," Hawthorne said to Frederick before announcing his decision. Frederick appeared in court in inmate attire, having been held in federal custody for more than a month since being arrested.

That arrest came after an investigation by Texas Parks and Wildlife Department game wardens into a case involving hunting from a public road in Jefferson County.

The game wardens testified their investigation of the Feb. 17 incident indicated Frederick and four other men were driving to a tract of private property to hunt feral hogs at night when they saw a feral hog beside the public road. Witness statements and other evidence indicated Frederick, who was driving, fired several shots from an AR-15-style rifle at the feral hog.

Those witnesses, three of whom face misdemeanor citations of hunting from a public road, testified Wednesday, as did the two state game wardens. Frederick's federal probation officer also testified that Frederick failed to meet other probation terms, including monthly reporting requirements and beginning to pay the restitution fee. He had not performed any of the 200 hours of community service ordered by Hawthorne.

In May, 2016, Frederick pleaded guilty to violating the federal Migratory Bird Treaty Act tied to his shooting and killing two whooping cranes on Jan. 11 of that year. The two cranes, part of what has been more than 60 whooping cranes released in southwest Louisiana as part of an effort to reestablish a resident flock of the iconic endangered species, had taken up residence in western Jefferson County.

The world's only wild, migratory flock of whooping cranes winters along the central Texas coast, mainly on and around Aransas National Wildlife Refuge. That flock, which declined to 15 birds, now holds more than 350. All whooping cranes, including the wild migratory flock and reintroduced birds such as those released in Louisiana, are protected under state and federal laws.

In a cooperative investigation, agents with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service law enforcement division and Texas Parks and Wildlife Department game wardens found and interviewed Frederick who confessed to using a rifle to shoot the cranes as he sat in a vehicle on a public road.

"You hate to see anyone incarcerated," Sherrie Roden, president of the Audubon Society's Golden Triangle chapter said after the hearing. "But in this case, I think the sentence is appropriate."

Should have given him 11 yrs. He had his chance and blew it...

We have members here at the 'Fire that post videos of similar illegal activity. And they think it's cutesy to do so...

As far as I'm concerned, this type of criminal (game violators) is the one that does us the most harm... It gives us all a black eye. The fence sitting public and liberal press paint all hunters with the same brush.

sentence him to a year on the streets of chitcago.ala escape from ny.

The obvious problem is how much can you earn working in the state's license plate factory?

I've often wondered why judges give poor folks huge fines.

They will never be able to live up to the financial obligations. Ever.

They will also resort to criminal activity to acquire the money.

They also will just skip parole or probation if they can't get the money to pay the large fines.

I can see where they would fine someone like that if they had the ways and means of paying. But, otherwise, it's just keeping them in the criminal justice system.

Should have given him more of a sentence. More fine and more months.

"Frederick to begin paying a restitution fee of $25,815"


I will bite, restitution for what to whom...is the court saying that the cranes are not wild and are owned by someone?

A fine I can understand, but 'restitution'.

I'm sure the argument will be the government owns the animals. Just like the USFS thinks they own the trees. THE PEOPLE own them.

I have an idea if he paid $100 a year on the $25K it would be enough to keep him clear of another prob. violation. Not paying a dime, and not doing one hr of CS work, shows a real contempt for the law. Stupid has to hurt.

State of Texas sets a value to all "game animals". If you are caught illegally possessing one you often pay the state back for what they figure the animal is worth.

The State considers all game animals to be state property, that is why it requires a licence to hunt them. Every state varies some, but that is the short answer.

So...... they turn critters loose in South La. and are surprised when they get shot?

Funny. You could total 5 vehicles a yr hitting deer crossing a road and they wouldn't be responsible for a dime no matter if common sense and game numbers would say they should be handing out a lot more doe tags or not. But if I happen to color outside the lines when killing one, they are owed restitution. If one of my farm animals gets out, I am responsible for any and all damages.

The short answer is they don't own a single animal,,,,never did. I try my best to stay within game laws to be fair to fellow hunters, but I vehemently deny the ownership of any wild game animal by a man in a uniform, just because they say so.

Wow.

Shot some pigs from a road.

Am I supposed to give a fugk?




Travis

Yeah, I think it's funny how the rules change, by installing a high fence, as well. Then it shifts more to a "stewardship " situation, and I don't agree with that either. You get more control due to the fact the gene pool splits at the fence line. "So let me get this straight....I fence and I get to keep what's inside, as if it were my own? Yes. "Ok....then If I shut the gates now, I get to keep your car?" No. "What's the difference? It's a state vehicle, right?"
I don't agree with it but some states claim all rainwater is a state resource, and outlaw rainbarrels, because they claim the water belongs to the State.
But that is the reality of what a licence is. You are begging permission to hunt state property.

All over an animal that can be shot from a helicopter.

LMAO.


Dave

I'd like to see the govt take control of every substance on the planet and make us pay to use it. That's what I call liberty.

Clark,

From what I gathered from the article, it was two Whooping Cranes that were shot. Google tells me those are BIRDS not pigs.

Five years in Leavenworth, breaking rocks with a sledge hammer. POS to shoot a whooping crane.