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Walt Staton Sentenced to Community Service, Banned from Refuge |
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Wednesday, 12 August 2009 01:43 |
No More Deaths volunteer Walt Staton received a stiff sentence Tuesday morning consisting of unsupervised probation and community service. He was ordered to complete 300 hours of trash pickup on public lands within a year while he will also be on unsupervised probation. He was also banned from entering the Buenos Aires National Wildlife Refuge during that time.
No More Deaths volunteer Walt Staton received a stiff sentence Tuesday morning consisting of a year of unsupervised probation and community service. He was ordered to complete 300 hours of trash pickup on public lands within a year. He was also banned from the Buenos Aires National Wildlife Refuge during that time.
Supporters came to pack the courtroom, but US Marshalls kept about 30 waiting outside, even though more space was available.
Federal Magistrate Jennifer Guerin heard statements from Staton, his attorney, Bill Walker, and the US prosecutor before handing down the sentence. Staton told the judge that he intended to continue providing humanitarian assistance in the desert, and that he didn't believe what he did was wrong, even though a jury found him guilty. "I'm not confident that I was able to present everything I needed to to the jury to defend myself," Staton said during a response to questions from the judge.
The judge denied two witnesses and restricted Staton from testifying about his faith or moral convictions during the two-day trial in June.
Staton is moving to Claremont, California next week to begin seminary school at the Claremont School of Theology and hopes to be ordained as a Unitarian Universalist minister. He first began volunteering with No More Deaths during the summer of 2004. His first outing with the organization was on the Buenos Aires wildlife refuge where he spent the afternoon picking up trash.
Media Coverage:
- Arizona Daily Star
- KVOA Channel 4 (includes video)
- The LA Times
- La Opinión
- CNN
- New York Times Editorial
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