Beaumont man on probation for killing whooping cranes gets 11 months in prison for violating terms

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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.

In May, 2016, Trey Joseph 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. In May, 2016, Trey Joseph 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. Photo: Kathy Adams Clark/Kathy Adams Clark/KAC Production Photo: Kathy Adams Clark/Kathy Adams Clark/KAC Production Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close Beaumont man on probation for killing whooping cranes gets 11 months in prison for violating terms 1 / 1 Back to Gallery

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."