Bismarck rancher sentenced in deer killing

A Bismarck rancher who pleaded guilty to killing deer in his daughter's feedlot to keep them from damaging feed will spend four days in jail and pay $8,500 in restitution to the state. The Bismarck Tribune reports (http://bit.ly/nW3Cq2) that 69-year-old William Dethloff had a second restitution hearing on Thursday in which the judge reordered the same sentence and restitution he had handed down in January. Dethloff pleaded guilty to eight counts of unlawful taking of big game and nine counts of unlawful possession of big game animals in Burleigh County. He had sought to be allowed to present evidence that he had no other alternative, but a judge ruled that the crimes were "strict liability" offenses. Court documents say a state wildlife investigator found the dead deer in February. AP