Stacykins
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FINALLY! Some good news/justice! Not as much prison time as one could have hoped, but still, better than nothing. The details are in the story, but atrocity happened last year.
Teens Get Prison For Cattle Torture
MENOMINEE - Two Escanaba teens will spend the next two to four years in prison for torturing three beef cattle last summer. The judge handed down the order Monday, going above and beyond the sentencing guidelines for each defendant.
Nicholas Michael Leisner, 18, and Peter John Sauve, 17, each pleaded guilty to three counts of torturing/killing an animal for beating three purebred Angus cattle on the Gary and Tammy Niarhos farm on July 17.
A third co-defendant, Chad Meier Jr., 17, of Escanaba, pleaded not guilty to the same three charges. He is scheduled for a hearing in circuit court next week where he will either enter a plea or schedule a trial.
During Leisner's and Sauve's sentencings in Menominee County Circuit Court on Monday, Judge Mary Barglund sentenced each to serve two to four years in prison. Barglund deviated from the legislative sentencing guidelines which would have been a maximum 12 months in jail. The prosecution was recommending 24 months imprisonment.
Barglund explained the court cannot deviate from sentencing guidelines unless there's substantial and compelling reasons to rule beyond the legislative recommendations.
"This is a situation where the court can and should exceed the guidelines," the judge said prior to sentencing Leisner, the first to appear in court on Monday.
Barglund's reasons for going beyond the guidelines included the premeditation involved when the two defendants grabbed weapons including a shovel and a knife as they headed out to the cattle farm next door. Knives, a shovel, a three-foot pipe and a long metal bar with a pointed tip were "used to completely annihilate these innocent creatures," Barglund said.
She added that the incident took a considerable amount of time and any one of the three could have ended the cruelty, but did not. The animals suffered numerous wounds and were left to die, she said.
Two of the purebred Angus cattle were pregnant heifers which had to be euthanized because of their injuries. The third animal, a bull, recovered from the beating but will never be able to be used for breeding.
"These are living, breathing, feeling creatures," Barglund added.
The judge then explained the court's goals in sentencing - to punish the offenders, rehabilitate them, protect society from them, and deter the offenders and others from further criminal acts.
"The court is compelled to deviate from the guidelines," Barglund stated. She then ordered the two-to-four-year sentence on Leisner.
In addition to the prison term, Leisner was ordered to pay $15,000 restitution to the Niarhos's insurance company and more than $400 in fines and costs. The judge also ordered him to never own or possess any pets ever. Suave received the same punishments, including joint restitution to the insurance company.
Both defense attorneys disagreed with the judge deviating from the sentencing guidelines, which will send Leisner and Sauve to prison.
Leisner's attorney Geoffrey Sparks said, "This was a horrible thing that took place. There's no denying it. But it is not grounds to depart from the guidelines, which would be a county (jail) sentence."
The two attorneys said their clients should not have been considered "leaders" in the sentencing guideline scoring.
Sparks told the court that Meier was the leader in the incident. The three were at Meier's camp, next door to the Niarhos farm, and Meier had previous problems with the farmer, according to the sheriff's investigation, the lawyer said.
"If it were not for Chad Meier, we wouldn't be sitting here today," Sparks commented.
Judge Barglund said all three played a significant role in the act of violence.
"I think this is a situation where each of them led the other ... in multiple varying ways. The three of them clearly contributed to this," said Barglund.
During her statements prior to sentencing Suave, the judge stated, "Nobody denies this was an activity the three of you decided to do together ... this heinous crime."
Barglund added in all her years in court, she has never seen anyone sink to this level of depravity for living creatures.
Sauve's attorney John Economopoulos said severe intoxication played a role in his client's judgment the night of the incident. The attorney added consumption of alcohol is not an excuse for Sauve's actions.
"The Niarhos family did not ask for this. They did not deserve this," Economopoulos said.
Menominee County Prosecuting Attorney Dan Hass said the judge's sentencings are justified because of the "horrific nature" of the criminal acts committed.
"I don't believe the legislators contemplated this kind of mutilation," Hass said, citing the Niarhos family's loss of the two heifers and their calves and the suffering which the three animals endured.
"I had a hard time looking at these photographs. The animals suffered more than they had to," Hass commented.
The bull suffered a broken jaw, a broken backbone, welts, and approximately 20 knife wounds. One heifer suffered with its internal organs hanging outside its body. The other heifer's body was also punctured and manure was coming out from the wound.
Hass added Niarhos also lost the unborn calves and future calves.
"He lost years of productivity because of this violent, vicious act by these individuals," the prosecutor said.
Teens Get Prison For Cattle Torture
MENOMINEE - Two Escanaba teens will spend the next two to four years in prison for torturing three beef cattle last summer. The judge handed down the order Monday, going above and beyond the sentencing guidelines for each defendant.
Nicholas Michael Leisner, 18, and Peter John Sauve, 17, each pleaded guilty to three counts of torturing/killing an animal for beating three purebred Angus cattle on the Gary and Tammy Niarhos farm on July 17.
A third co-defendant, Chad Meier Jr., 17, of Escanaba, pleaded not guilty to the same three charges. He is scheduled for a hearing in circuit court next week where he will either enter a plea or schedule a trial.
During Leisner's and Sauve's sentencings in Menominee County Circuit Court on Monday, Judge Mary Barglund sentenced each to serve two to four years in prison. Barglund deviated from the legislative sentencing guidelines which would have been a maximum 12 months in jail. The prosecution was recommending 24 months imprisonment.
Barglund explained the court cannot deviate from sentencing guidelines unless there's substantial and compelling reasons to rule beyond the legislative recommendations.
"This is a situation where the court can and should exceed the guidelines," the judge said prior to sentencing Leisner, the first to appear in court on Monday.
Barglund's reasons for going beyond the guidelines included the premeditation involved when the two defendants grabbed weapons including a shovel and a knife as they headed out to the cattle farm next door. Knives, a shovel, a three-foot pipe and a long metal bar with a pointed tip were "used to completely annihilate these innocent creatures," Barglund said.
She added that the incident took a considerable amount of time and any one of the three could have ended the cruelty, but did not. The animals suffered numerous wounds and were left to die, she said.
Two of the purebred Angus cattle were pregnant heifers which had to be euthanized because of their injuries. The third animal, a bull, recovered from the beating but will never be able to be used for breeding.
"These are living, breathing, feeling creatures," Barglund added.
The judge then explained the court's goals in sentencing - to punish the offenders, rehabilitate them, protect society from them, and deter the offenders and others from further criminal acts.
"The court is compelled to deviate from the guidelines," Barglund stated. She then ordered the two-to-four-year sentence on Leisner.
In addition to the prison term, Leisner was ordered to pay $15,000 restitution to the Niarhos's insurance company and more than $400 in fines and costs. The judge also ordered him to never own or possess any pets ever. Suave received the same punishments, including joint restitution to the insurance company.
Both defense attorneys disagreed with the judge deviating from the sentencing guidelines, which will send Leisner and Sauve to prison.
Leisner's attorney Geoffrey Sparks said, "This was a horrible thing that took place. There's no denying it. But it is not grounds to depart from the guidelines, which would be a county (jail) sentence."
The two attorneys said their clients should not have been considered "leaders" in the sentencing guideline scoring.
Sparks told the court that Meier was the leader in the incident. The three were at Meier's camp, next door to the Niarhos farm, and Meier had previous problems with the farmer, according to the sheriff's investigation, the lawyer said.
"If it were not for Chad Meier, we wouldn't be sitting here today," Sparks commented.
Judge Barglund said all three played a significant role in the act of violence.
"I think this is a situation where each of them led the other ... in multiple varying ways. The three of them clearly contributed to this," said Barglund.
During her statements prior to sentencing Suave, the judge stated, "Nobody denies this was an activity the three of you decided to do together ... this heinous crime."
Barglund added in all her years in court, she has never seen anyone sink to this level of depravity for living creatures.
Sauve's attorney John Economopoulos said severe intoxication played a role in his client's judgment the night of the incident. The attorney added consumption of alcohol is not an excuse for Sauve's actions.
"The Niarhos family did not ask for this. They did not deserve this," Economopoulos said.
Menominee County Prosecuting Attorney Dan Hass said the judge's sentencings are justified because of the "horrific nature" of the criminal acts committed.
"I don't believe the legislators contemplated this kind of mutilation," Hass said, citing the Niarhos family's loss of the two heifers and their calves and the suffering which the three animals endured.
"I had a hard time looking at these photographs. The animals suffered more than they had to," Hass commented.
The bull suffered a broken jaw, a broken backbone, welts, and approximately 20 knife wounds. One heifer suffered with its internal organs hanging outside its body. The other heifer's body was also punctured and manure was coming out from the wound.
Hass added Niarhos also lost the unborn calves and future calves.
"He lost years of productivity because of this violent, vicious act by these individuals," the prosecutor said.
