BANGOR, (AP) – An Edmunds man serving a six-month sentence in Washington County Jail for slaughtering animals faces sentencing in federal court after pleading guilty to killing and attempting to kill federally protected wildlife.

Kevin S. Farley Jr., 45, faces up to a year in prison and a fine of up to $15,000 on each of the four federal misdemeanor charges. A sentencing date is not expected to be set until after a pre-sentence report has been filed, which could take up to 90 days.

Farley entered the pleas in U.S. District Court on Monday in response to allegations that he killed a harbor seal, illegally hunted wood ducks and attempted to kill a harbor seal and a cormorant in October 2005 in Washington County.

Farley had been the target of a grand jury investigation, U.S. Magistrate Judge Margaret Kravchuk said in accepting his guilty pleas.

In September, Farley was sentenced to six months in the county jail in Machias after pleading guilty to five counts of night hunting and five other charges. including cruelty to animals. He also was ordered to pay a $6,000 fine and $500 in restitution to the owners of the pets he killed.

The Bangor Daily News reported that the Maine Warden Service charged Farley with five counts of night hunting and five other charges in early 2006 after more than a year’s investigation in which a game warden went hunting undercover with Farley.

Farley admitted in federal court Monday that on Oct. 13, 2005, he aimed his rifle at harbor seals at Reversing Falls in Edmunds Township. A day later at a boat landing in Perry, Farley fatally shot a harbor seal in front of the warden, according to court documents.

Farley also shot and appeared to wound a double-crested cormorant and, later, retrieved a wood duck from a pond in Edmunds he admitted shooting on Oct. 13, 2005, according to the newspaper.

At his sentencing in state court, Farley told the judge he didn’t know why he went on the killing spree and blamed the wardens who were working undercover at the time. He said they befriended him and pressured him to kill the animals.

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Information from: Bangor Daily News, http://www.bangornews.com

AP-ES-12-05-06 0736EST