A Craig County judge gives a Bluejacket rancher a two-year deferred sentence and 240 hours of community service for allegedly starving sheep and cattle. David Bradley Bell will serve no prison time as part of a plea agreement reached with prosecutors today. Associate District Judge Gary Maxey found the 47-year-old guilty and told him to refrain from owning sheep or cattle on his property. He will be allowed to have horses and donkeys. Sheriff's deputies seized the animals after reportedly seeing hundreds of sheep dead or dying on Bell's property. More than 1,200 sheep and 300 cattle were confiscated in January 2007 but returned to Bell and his wife a few months later.

Officials estimated that about 700 animals died on Bell's land. Bell's attorney, Jot Hartley, has said Bell fed and watered his animals sufficiently but that the livestock fell prey to the stresses of drought, a massive snow storm last December and an ice storm in January.

Bell also must pay restitution that will be determined by a pending civil case over care of his herds.