Man sent to prison for fatally shooting elephant seal (msn.com)
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A Utah man will serve three months in prison for the 2019 fatal shooting of a northern elephant seal in California.
Prosecutors said Jordan Gerbich, 30, was sentenced Monday for killing the animal while it rested on a San Simeon-area beach, NBC News reports.
He pleaded guilty in December to one count of illegally taking a marine mammal, according to a release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office Central District of California.
Gerbich was living in The Golden State when he shot the seal in the head, using a handgun, on Sept. 28, 2019 after a drunken friend ordered him to kill an animal “as a kind of grotesque test,” his federal public defender wrote in a court document prior to sentencing, according to NBC.
Elephant seals on a beach at Piedras Llancas near San Simeon California Coats in San Simeon, Calif. (Nick Ut/)
Gerbich’s lawyer claimed his client sought out approval due to his history of substance abuse as well as neglect and physical abuse growing up, NBC notes.
In addition to being shot in the head at night — which led Gerbich to use a flashlight to facilitate the killing — the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said the animal was found with its tail fins cut off, NBC reports.
Gerbich’s federal prison sentence will be followed by a year of supervised release, three months of home detention, and 120 hours of community service, according to the release. He must also pay a $1,000 fine.
“It remains unclear what motivated [Gerbich] to commit such an act; nevertheless, [Gerbich] knew it was wrong,” read prosecutors’ sentencing memorandum.
Committee to Abolish Sport Hunting Blog 
Hope he gets gang raped in prison….
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