ASHEVILLE (AP) — A Robbinsville man has been sentenced to five months in prison for killing a black bear cub in the Nantahala National Forest.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Dennis Howell on Wednesday also ordered 20-year-old Tyler Micaiah Colvin to pay more than $2,000 restitution to the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission.
Colvin pleaded guilty in December to transporting wildlife that had been taken in violation of federal laws and regulations. Prosecutors say Colvin used a .50 caliber muzzleloader to kill the cub in the Wayah Bear Sanctuary in Macon County in October 2011.
Killing bears in a sanctuary or that weigh less than 50 pounds is prohibited.
Prosecutors say that after Colvin shot the bear cub, he skinned it and removed the paws and some meat. He left the carcass in the forest.