Beaumont man on probation for killing whooping cranes gets 11 months in prison for violating terms [View all]

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.


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