The county attorney said that 72-year-old James Henry Leachman, as ordered, reported to the Yellowstone County Detention Facility by 5 p.m. Friday to start serving the sentence.
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| A horse's banded leg is found near other bones picked clean by coyotes and other predators. The mare couldn't walk, Shepherd veterinarian Jeff Peila said, because the bands attached when she was young had cut off circulation. |
Leachman had remained free from jail while appealing his conviction, which was recently upheld by the Montana Supreme Court.
After a weeklong trial in December 2012, a Yellowstone County Justice Court jury convicted Leachman of five misdemeanor animal cruelty charges for abusing five of the hundreds horses he kept mostly on a ranch 16 miles east of Billings.
Investigators discovered five horses, some of them malnourished, with tight plastic bands that had caused severe leg injuries. Two died at pasture, and two were euthanized, court records say.
Leachman operated a horse breeding business before the U.S. Farm Services Administration foreclosed on his property in 2010. Leachman continued to keep more than 400 horses on the property after it was sold.
He was sentenced to five years in the Yellowstone County Detention Facility with all but 120 days suspended and a $5,000 fine.
On Tuesday, Leachman filed a Petition for Order for Home Arrest, in which he cites health problems and other reasons why he believes he should be allowed to serve his sentence at home.
He concludes the petition by stating, “I regret the actions that led me to this place and wish to move past this unfortunate stage of my life. I have no other history in my 72-year life of animal abuse, flight or harm to anything. I intend to fully cooperate with any supervising authority. I accept your judgment of me.”
Twito said late Friday this petition will be treated as petition for re-sentencing or sentence modification and that there could be a hearing on the matter.
(Billings Gazette - Aug 29, 2014)
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