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Department of Justice United States Attorney David L. Huber Contact: Sandy Focken |
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August 21, 2008
TODD COUNTY RESIDENT SENTENCED TO SIX MONTHS HOME INCARCERATION FOR POISONING DOGS, HAWKS, OWLS AND OTHER ANIMALS
BOWLING GREEN, KY - Donnie Halcomb, age 56, of Allensville, Kentucky, in Todd County, was sentenced on August 20, 2008, to 6 months home incarceration in United States District Court, Bowling Green, Kentucky, for misdemeanor violations of the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA Title 7, United States Code, Sections 136j and 136l) (4 counts) and the National Migratory Bird Treaty Act (MBTA - title 16, United States Code, Sections 703 and 707), U.S. Attorney David L. Huber of the Western District of Kentucky announced today. E. Robert Goebel, Magistrate Judge, United States District Court, also sentenced Halcomb to 5 years probation following home incarceration. There is no parole in the federal judicial system. In addition, a fine of $50,000 was imposed.
Halcomb had plead guilty to the charges on April 30, 2008. Both the FIFRA and MBTA charges embrace the same conduct; namely, lacing deer carcasses with a deadly pesticide (Carbofuran), not for use on crops as it was intended, but to poison coyotes. The result was the poisoning, of an area trafficked by neighboring farmers and hunters, of coyotes and dozens of other animals including dogs, opossums and migratory birds such as owls, hawks and vultures. Dr. Chris Weis, a toxicologist for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, testified that Furadan was used in concentrations much greater than those recommenced by the manufacturer and can cause nausea, headaches, vomiting and death in humans who come in to contact with the substance, even by touch.
The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Randy Ream, and it was investigated by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Kentucky Department of Fish & Wildlife Resources.
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