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Nov 29, 2007 4:36 am US/Pacific

Fisherman Pleads Guilty To Stabbing Sea Lion

LOS ANGELES (AP) ― All the sea lion wanted was some food.

A California fisherman has pleaded guilty in the fatal stabbing of a sea lion.

Hai Nguyen faces up to a year in prison and a $20,000 fine.

Police say Nguyen was fishing off a pier in Newport Beach last July when the sea lion snatched the bait from his fishing line. Nguyen then stabbed the animal with a steak knife, piercing its heart. The sea lion was taken to a marine mammal center in Laguna Beach, where it had to be put down.

Nguyen told a federal magistrate in Los Angeles yesterday that he never meant to kill the sea lion, just scare it away. But he acknowledged violating the federal Marine Mammal Protection Act.  

(© 2008 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)

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