United States Magistrate Judge Kelley Arnold on Monday sentenced Wayne Johnson to five months at the federal detention center at SeaTac for leading a group of rogue Makah tribal members on an illegal Gray Whale hunt last fall. Five months is more than federal prosecutors wanted, but it isn't really enough given the severity of the crime. Even though they shot the Whale 16 times with an "elephant gun," and jammed it with four harpoons, they botched the hunt, and it took the Whale over 12 hours to die. The official charge was violation of the Marine Mammal Protection Act.

Wayne's special buddy Andy Noel will only have to do 90 days in jail. Both will also have to perform community service and will be on probation for a year. Three others participants in the illegal and unsanctioned Whale murder, William Secor, Theron Parker, and Frankie Gonzales copped a plea deal with federal prosecutors so they will skip jail but will have to perform 100 to 150 hours of community service and serve two years of probation--they got off easy. All the men were fined between $25 and $50 each which is less than a parking ticket...I guess tribal membership has some privileges.

Wayne's cellmate and new "special buddy."

Read.

Even though the penalty for killing this Gray Whale in Washington State is not that severe, compared to the results of the latest International Whaling Commission meeting in Santiago, Chile where delegates from all over the globe lined up to kiss Japan's bloody ass, Wayne Johnson's conviction is good news.

technorati tags: , Whales, Whaling, Tribal Whaling, Washington, Marine Mammal Protection Act, Gray Whales, Moby Dick, prison violence, Gregory Peck, SeaTac, Makah

--El Tiburon