Two Nevada men will each serve six months in federal prison and one year of probation in connection with the November 2009 shooting deaths of five Bureau of Land Management (BLM) mustangs. The shootings occurred at the Buckhorn Horse Management Area of Northern Washoe County, Nev.

Helicopter pilots from the BLM discovered the animals' carcasses in December 2009 during a scheduled roundup from the remote range along the Nevada-California border. According to court records, Todd Davis and Joshua Keathley shot the animals while searching near the herd area for places to set hunting traps. Federal authorities later charged Davis and Keathley with maliciously causing the death and harassment of free-roaming horses by shooting them. In June both men pleaded guilty to the charges.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Robert A. McQuaid handed down the sentence on Nov. 4, according to a Department of Justice press release.

Keathley's attorney John Springgate said he and Davis' attorney Todd Plimpton had sought probation sentences in the case because the men lacked criminal histories