Sentence reduced for man who shot horses

EMINENCE, Mo. -- A man who shot five federally protected wild horses in the Ozarks has received a reduced sentence, angering advocacy group members who were already unhappy with the punishment.

Harold "Pogo" Williams, of Ellington, will serve only weekends in the Shannon County jail through June 2004 under a revised work release order granted by a judge.

Williams pleaded guilty in May 2001 to five counts of animal abuse in the deaths of the horses in the Ozark National Scenic Riverways near Eminence.

Under a plea agreement, Williams was sentenced to three years in jail. He also was ordered to pay a fine and $35 for each day he is jailed.

A judge then granted a work release order that since June 2001 has allowed him to spend his nights in jail and his days working for a telephone company. That order was revised Dec. 19, allowing Williams to be jailed from 6 p.m. Friday to 6 p.m. Sunday each week at either the Shannon or Reynolds county jail.

The modified sentence requires Williams to continue to pay incarceration costs and at least $200 each month toward $2,500 in restitution to the Wild Horse League.

The defendant, an avid deer hunter, said in court that he fired two high-powered rifles into a herd of horses in November 2000, killing four mares and a stallion.

Williams told the judge he tried to scare the horses off because they were interfering with his hunting.

They were among several bands of free-roaming horses living under federal protection at the national park. They were thought to be among a few wild herds in the Midwest descended from livestock abandoned during the Depression.

A decade ago, park officials had proposed relocating the horses, calling them feral animals. Later, however, residents won in their efforts to have the horses classified as federally protected.