A Fort Bragg, North Carolina, soldier accused of shooting of an emotional support dog pleaded guilty to lesser charges this week, according to the Fayetteville Observer.
Spc. Jarren Heng pleaded guilty in Harnett County District Court to conspiracy to commit cruelty to animals and having a gun on educational property, according to The Fayetteville Observer. In exchange, a charge of cruelty to animals was dropped.
Prosecutors charged Heng with having a gun on an educational property instead of the original charge of discharging a firearm on school grounds, according to Harnett County Assistant District Attorney Edward Page, the Fayetteville newspaper reported. Page added that it is unclear whether or not Heng and his then-girlfriend knew the woods they shot the dog in were on school grounds.
Heng, 25, and his then-girlfriend, Army veteran Marinna Rollins, 23, were charged in April with the shooting of the emotional support dog after a video of the incident was posted on Facebook. The couple can be heard laughing as they tied the dog to a tree and shot it 10 times. The dog, named Huey, belonged to Rollins’ ex-husband, Matt Dyer, a soldier who had asked Rollins to watch the dog while he was deployed to South Korea.
Rollins, who was reportedly suffering from PTSD, committed suicide on May 7.
Heng will be on supervised probation for 12 months after his sentence of six to 17 months in state prison was suspended. He was ordered to pay a $100 fine, $450 in court fees and to volunteer at an animal shelter. He was also ordered to continue going to psychiatric counseling.
"Because he had no criminal record, he was not eligible to receive an active sentence on those two felonies," Page said. "The suspended sentence was the longest he could receive."
Page added that the terms and conditions of probation were set by Chief District Court Judge Jacqueline Lee and that she included the community service requirement.
While animal rights activists and Dyer were frustrated with the court's decision, Page supported the ruling, according to the Fayetteville Observer.
"Mr. Heng is now a convicted felon for the rest of his life, he received about as severe a punishment as he could get within the Structured Sentencing established by our legislature, and we expect the felony conviction will end his military career," Page said. "We appreciate the public’s interest in this case, and believe the outcome in the case was just."
Heng is a specialist assigned to a unit within Army Special Operations Command, spokesman Lt. Col. Robert Bockholt told Army Times in April, although he declined to specify his unit or military occupational specialty.
Heng’s status with the Army is unclear, pending administrative action following his felony conviction.
