A person who took a deal and pleaded responsible final yr to killing his neighbors’ cattle in Larimer County, inflicting over $30,000 in losses, was sentenced Friday to lower than a month in jail.
Larimer County District Court docket Decide Stephen Jouard sentenced Michael Hester, a 37-year-old man from Larimer County, to 24 days in jail, three years on supervised probation and 240 hours working neighborhood service, in keeping with court docket information.
That ruling could also be slated to vary, as Hester is scheduled to seem once more in court docket on Feb. 14 for a resentencing listening to.
The 37-year-old took a deal and pleaded responsible in November to 6 felonies, together with three counts of aggravated animal cruelty and three counts of animal theft, court docket information present. The plea deal dropped a dozen further costs, together with aggravated animal cruelty, animal theft, capturing from a public street and felony trespassing, from Hester’s case.
Throughout Friday’s sentencing listening to, Jouard additionally ordered Hester to pay $30,734 in restitution, sufferer compensation funds and different charges, in keeping with court docket information.
Hester was arrested in April 2024 after his neighbors reported him to the Larimer County Sheriff’s Workplace for capturing their cattle whereas driving by on a utility job automobile, also referred to as a side-by-side.
When deputies arrived on Hester’s land, they discovered seven useless cattle belonging to 2 of Hester’s neighbors and a critically injured eighth cow that needed to be euthanized.
Beneath Colorado regulation, livestock house owners should not required to fence their livestock in. If landowners wish to maintain livestock off their property, they should construct their very own fences to maintain the animals out.
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