Man sentenced in deaths of two whooping cranes

BEAUMONT — A Southeast Texas man must serve five years of federal probation for killing two endangered whooping cranes while hunting.

Trey Joseph Frederick was sentenced Tuesday in Beaumont.

A magistrate also ordered the 19-year-old Beaumont man to pay nearly $26,000 in restitution, barred Frederick from owning or possession firearms or ammunition and prohibited him from hunting or fishing in the U.S.

Frederick, who in May pleaded guilty to violating the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, must also do 200 hours of community service.

The birds died about 115 miles west of Louisiana’s White Lake Wetlands Conservation Area, where dozens of whooping cranes have been released in efforts to create a self-sustaining flock.