Plea deals reached in cow graffiti case

Both father and son in the cow defacement case have entered into plea agreements that would see their felony charges lowered to misdemeanors.

Two ranchers are accused of using bleach to paint markings, including drawings of penises, on a total of 189 cows and six bulls belonging to their neighbor.

Patrick Sean and Tucker Carroll claimed their actions were intended to bring their neighbor’s attention to the problem of broken fences that weren’t being fixed quickly enough.

The markings led to an alleged loss in value for the cattle of approximately $141,750.

On Monday, the day that his jury trial was set to begin, Patrick Carroll entered what is known as an “Alford plea”, named after a 1970 case from North Carolina.

An Alford plea is similar to a guilty plea, except the defendant maintains that they are innocent while still pleading guilty and accepting a plea bargain.

Through this plea agreement, the two original felony charges against Patrick Carroll will be dropped: property destruction and defacement and conspiracy to commit property destruction and defacement.

Instead, he will be sentenced for a misdemeanor count of property destruction and defacement, which carries a maximum penalty of six months of incarceration, a $750 fine or both.

The agreement specifies that Patrick Carroll will pay the full fine and serve 30 days in jail. The jail time will be suspended pending completion of six months of unsupervised probation.

According to the plea agreement, the probation period shall, “At a minimum include any terms and conditions previously ordered in any order setting bail and [to] not mark any livestock with the exception of his own.”

The court will meanwhile determine the amount of restitution for the cost of restoration of the cattle, damages and the cost of prosecution, including the photographing of the cattle.

Patrick Carroll will also be required to “apologize for marking the cattle”.

Tucker Carroll has meanwhile entered into a plea agreement in which the felony charges – which are the same as those levied against his father – will be dropped. Instead, he has pled guilty to the same misdemeanor count of property destruction and defacement.

The plea agreement includes the same sentence recommendation and stipulations as the one entered into by Patrick Carroll.

The court is not obligated to accept either plea agreement. If the court chooses not to accept any of the recommendations or requests during the sentencing hearing, the defendants will not be allowed to withdraw their plea.