GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – A man was sentenced Tuesday for stomping a raccoon to death.
David Pennell of Muskegon was sentenced to spend one year in jail.
In the summer of 2012, Pennell shook a raccoon out of a tree, then stomped it to death. He then went to the internet bragging about what he had just done to the animal. He even posted the video for the world to see. Authorities were able to use that video to charge Pennell.
“If I had it to do all over again, I wouldn’t have done it, sir,” Pennell said to the judge in court Tuesday. “I am deeply apologetic for what has been done. I am a loving and care guy and now I have a fiance who is four months pregnant and I want nothing more in this world than to be there for her and our child.”
Pennell’s mother defended him in the case, saying that his dog had already attacked that raccoon. She said it needed to be put down so it wouldn’t hurt anyone.
Still, the judge couldn’t find reasons to agree with Pennell’s actions.
“Nobody told you to put this on the Internet,” Judge Hicks said. “That really troubles me because it seems like you want people to know about this. Maybe you’re taking some pride in the way this happened.”
Along with spending a year in jail, Pennell will not be allowed to use social media.
