FILE - In this Dec. 2014, file photo, Dell "Super Dell" Schanze arrives for a court appearance at the federal courthouse in Salt Lake City. Schanze, a former TV pitchman in Utah accused of kicking a barn owl in flight while riding a motorized paraglider, is expected to enter a plea in the case. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer, File) (The Associated Press)
SALT LAKE CITY – A former TV pitchman in Utah charged with kicking a barn owl in flight while riding a motorized paraglider pleaded guilty to the charges Friday, one day after a proposed plea deal fell through when he refused to admit to the crime.
U.S. Attorney's Office spokeswoman Melodie Rydalch says that 45-year-old Dell "Super Dell" Schanze was sentenced to one year of court probation during a hearing that wasn't planned or on any court docket. Rydalch says prosecutors made no concessions.
Schanze pleaded guilty Friday to the misdemeanor charge of knowingly using an aircraft to harass wildlife and pursuing a migratory bird.
The charges came after a federal investigation into a video that surfaced online last year and appeared to show a paraglider kicking a soaring owl and boasting about it.
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