Second sentence issued in cow graffiti case

As Patrick Sean Carroll received his sentencing for marking his neighbor’s cattle with bleach, the judge’s main concern was to see a truce between victim and accused.

Along with his son, Carroll was Two accused of using bleach to paint markings, including drawings of penises, on a total of 189 cows and six bulls belonging to their neighbor.

The duo claimed their actions were intended to bring their neighbor’s attention to the problem of bro-ken fences that weren’t being fixed quickly enough.

Both entered into plea agreements, with Patrick Sean Carroll entering what is known as an “Alford plea”, which is similar to a guilty plea except that the defendant maintains that they are innocent while still pleading guilty and accepting a plea bargain.

Judge Mike McGrady determined that they would need to pay a total of $9885 in restitution following a hearing in December, after which son Tucker Carroll was given a sentence of 30 days’ suspended jail time, six months of unsupervised probation and a $750 fine.

Through Carroll’s plea agreement, the two original felony charges were dropped: property destruction and defacement and conspiracy to commit property destruction and defacement.

Instead, he was sentenced on Thursday for a misdemeanor count of property destruction and deface-ment, which carries a maximum penalty of six months of incarceration, a $750 fine or both.

Attorney Seth Schumaker commented during the hearing that the plea agreement was, “reached after much negotiation, even upon the eve of trial,” and that payment of the restitution has already been tendered.

In response, Judge Matthew F.G. Castano asked, “Have you figured out how you’re going to patch things up with your neighbor?”

The court’s only concern, he said, is that, “This kind of thing can get out of hand. I know people who have been shot over a fence – nobody wants that.”

Carroll confirmed that he has made good progress on building fence between his land and the victim’s.

“I hope he’ll respect it and stay on his side of the fence,” he said.

He also noted that the incident occurred after his neighbor’s cattle had been straying onto his land for a long time.

“He sells this as [caused by] a one-time flood – [but] this went on for four years,” he said.

Castano responded that he accepts this, but has seen some “tragic” things happen between neighbors and doesn’t want to see something similar happen here.

“I very much respect that,” said Carroll, later adding, “To put your mind at ease, I am a nonviolent per-son. I hope that brings you some level of [comfort].”

It does, said the judge, adding, “I don’t need any more business.”

Accepting the plea agreement, Castano ordered a sentence of 30 days of suspended jail time, a $750 fine and six months of unsupervised probation.