Man who dragged horse sentenced for felony cruelty
Man who dragged horse sentenced for felony cruelty
By Howard Pankratz
The Denver Post
Posted: 05/28/2010 03:59:41 PM MDT
John Wilmarth McCulley Jr. (Handout)A man who dragged an elderly and malnourished horse through a pasture with his pickup truck was sentenced Thursday to one year in jail for felony aggravated animal cruelty.
John Wilmarth McCulley Jr. will serve one year in the Jefferson County jail work release program as a condition of a five years intensive supervision probation.
Jefferson County District Judge Jane Tidball also ordered McCulley to have no contact with animals and to take animal abuse prevention classes as determined by his probation officer.
According to the Jefferson County district attorney's office, McCulley tied a rope to the neck of a horse named Blue, connected the rope to his pickup and drove quickly out of a pasture north of his Arvada home in June 2009.
The horse was dragged at least 60 feet.
At the scene, Deputies found Blue lying on the ground on his right side. The horse was described as being "extremely emaciated," with his left hip bone sticking out and his spine and ribs clearly visible.
McCulley had pleaded guilty aggravated animal cruelty and possession of a weapon by a previous offender.
The weapons plea was the result of McCulley possessing a rifle, which he used to euthanize Blue as officers watched.
Deputy District Attorney Alexis King, who likened Blue's condition to that of a victim of a concentration camp, asked Tidball to sentence McCulley to prison saying it "was the only appropriate sentence."
Tidball declined, saying she thought McCulley was sorry.
Authorities also charged McCulley with 36 counts of misdemeanor animal cruelty in connection with his lack of care of 16 other horses who were seized in May 2009.
Many of those horses had been seized in a prior animal abuse case against McCully, in 2007.
A search warrant wasn't used in the 2007 case, and the horses taken at the time were returned to McCulley in 2008 in "healthy condition."
McCulley will be sentenced on Wednesday for the 36 counts of cruelty.
On Friday, McCulley was sentenced to five years probation with one year work release for attempting to fill fraudulent prescriptions in June 2008. He pleaded guilty in October 2008 to a class five felony "false or forged order" and was given a deferred sentence that was revoked in July 2009.
That sentence will be served concurrently with year meted out in the animal cruelty case related to Blue."
Howard Pankratz:
http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_15184083?source=rss
By Howard Pankratz
The Denver Post
Posted: 05/28/2010 03:59:41 PM MDT
John Wilmarth McCulley Jr. (Handout)A man who dragged an elderly and malnourished horse through a pasture with his pickup truck was sentenced Thursday to one year in jail for felony aggravated animal cruelty.
John Wilmarth McCulley Jr. will serve one year in the Jefferson County jail work release program as a condition of a five years intensive supervision probation.
Jefferson County District Judge Jane Tidball also ordered McCulley to have no contact with animals and to take animal abuse prevention classes as determined by his probation officer.
According to the Jefferson County district attorney's office, McCulley tied a rope to the neck of a horse named Blue, connected the rope to his pickup and drove quickly out of a pasture north of his Arvada home in June 2009.
The horse was dragged at least 60 feet.
At the scene, Deputies found Blue lying on the ground on his right side. The horse was described as being "extremely emaciated," with his left hip bone sticking out and his spine and ribs clearly visible.
McCulley had pleaded guilty aggravated animal cruelty and possession of a weapon by a previous offender.
The weapons plea was the result of McCulley possessing a rifle, which he used to euthanize Blue as officers watched.
Deputy District Attorney Alexis King, who likened Blue's condition to that of a victim of a concentration camp, asked Tidball to sentence McCulley to prison saying it "was the only appropriate sentence."
Tidball declined, saying she thought McCulley was sorry.
Authorities also charged McCulley with 36 counts of misdemeanor animal cruelty in connection with his lack of care of 16 other horses who were seized in May 2009.
Many of those horses had been seized in a prior animal abuse case against McCully, in 2007.
A search warrant wasn't used in the 2007 case, and the horses taken at the time were returned to McCulley in 2008 in "healthy condition."
McCulley will be sentenced on Wednesday for the 36 counts of cruelty.
On Friday, McCulley was sentenced to five years probation with one year work release for attempting to fill fraudulent prescriptions in June 2008. He pleaded guilty in October 2008 to a class five felony "false or forged order" and was given a deferred sentence that was revoked in July 2009.
That sentence will be served concurrently with year meted out in the animal cruelty case related to Blue."
Howard Pankratz:
http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_15184083?source=rss
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