A Wheaton resident will spend 50 hours caring for the animals in an area wildlife shelter, part of his punishment for killing a Canada goose.
The sentence came Wednesday from DuPage County Judge John Elsner in the wake of a guilty plea by Douglas Riccolo, 35, of 1603 Hunter Glen Ct., Wheaton. Riccolo had been charged with reckless conduct and firing a gun within the Wheaton city limits.
In addition to spending 50 hours at the animal shelter, Riccolo also was ordered to pay a $500 court fine, make a $750 donation to a local wildlife center, spend one year under court supervision and have his .22-caliber rifle held by police for a year.
Assistant State’s Atty. Joseph Solon said that after police received a call last August from an area resident of a gun being discharged, they found Riccolo in his garage cleaning the dead goose.
The police report said that the goose had been killed in a small field near Riccolo’s home.
Defense attorney James Moroni said his client had a lapse of judgment.
In exchange for the guilty plea, Solon dropped charges of hunting within city limits, hunting without a license, unlawful taking of a migratory bird and unlawful taking of a migratory bird with a rifle.
