Attorneys/Judges
| Prosecutor(s): | Crawford Long | | Judge(s): | Matt Johnson |
Dog shot to death, FBI agent charged
Lorena, TX (US)Incident Date: Friday, Feb 29, 2008
County: McLennan
Charges: Felony CTA
Disposition: Convicted
Defendant/Suspect: Lovett Leslie Ledger
Case Updates: 3 update(s) available
A Waco FBI agent was being held at the McLennan County Jail today on a cruelty to animals charge.
Lovett Les Ledger, 39, was booked at 7 a.m. March 7, and released in lieu of a $3,000 personal recognizance bond.
FBI spokesman Erik Vasys said the bureau is directing all comment to the McLennan County Sheriff's Office, and added that the FBI is cooperating fully with the investigation.
According to the sworn arrest warrant affidavit by Lt. Clay Perry of the sheriff's office, Ledger admitted to investigators that he shot and killed a neighbor's Chihuahua with a BB/pellet gun. The affidavit also says that Ledger earlier told investigators that he knew nothing about the shooting of the dog.
Accoding to news station KCEN, another couple that lives down the street is saying Ledger shot and killed their lab mix 5 years ago.
Case UpdatesAn FBI agent who shot and killed his Lorena neighbor’s 3-pound Chihuahua in 2008 is no longer employed with the FBI, an agency spokesman confirmed Friday.
Erik Vasys, an FBI spokesman in San Antonio, would not say if Leslie Ledger, an FBI agent formerly stationed in Waco, resigned, retired or was fired.
“Personnel actions are matters between the FBI and the employee themselves,” Vasys said. “As such, the Federal Privacy Act prohibits any further comment by the FBI on these matters.”
Leslie Ledger leaves a grand jury room in 2008.
Ledger, 41, could not be reached for comment Friday. His attorney, Rob Swanton, said he was unaware of any new developments in Ledger’s employment status.
Ledger was placed on deferred probation for two years and ordered to perform 300 hours of community service in July after pleading no contest to state jail felony animal-cruelty charges in Waco’s 54th State District Court.
He shot the tiny dog, named Sassy, with a pellet rifle as the dog explored the neighborhood in front of his rural home on Estes Road in Lorena. The dog belonged to a young girl whose family lives down the street from Ledger.
He initially lied to sheriff’s office investigators about the dog’s death but later told deputies he shot the animal, according to court records. | Source: Waco Tribune - Oct 30, 2009
Update posted on Nov 1, 2009 - 11:40PM |
A local FBI agent who shot and killed a 3-pound Chihuahua named Sassy in front of his home near Lorena is seeking deferred felony probation after his no contest plea in April.
Lovett Leslie Ledger Jr., 40, pleaded no contest to state jail felony animal cruelty charges in exchange for a recommendation from prosecutors that he be placed on felony probation for two years.
Prosecutor Crawford Long said he would not oppose Ledger's request that 54th State District Judge Matt Johnson place him on deferred probation, meaning that there would be no final judgment of guilt if Ledger successfully completed deferred probation.
FBI agent Lovett Leslie Ledger Jr. (right) pleaded no contest Monday to animal cruelty charges after shooting and killing a Chihuahua in 2008. (Duane A. Laverty photo)
Ledger and his attorney, Rob Swanton, both declined comment after the brief plea hearing. Johnson has set sentencing in the case for June 23.
Erik Vasys, FBI spokesman in San Antonio, said Ledger remains a government employee pending the judicial proceedings and an FBI internal investigation. He declined to say where Ledger has been stationed or what kind of work he has been doing since his indictment in July.
"The FBI advises that this plea was expected, and the FBI continues to be fully cooperative with the judicial process at the district court level and we will await the final ruling of the court," Vasys said.
Vasys said he could not say if a felony conviction or felony deferred probation would mean the end of Ledger's FBI career.
"It all depends on what our office of professional responsibility will do," he said. "That is ongoing, and we will have to wait to see how they interpret what the local courts do. Each case is different."
The dog belonged to the 8-year-old daughter of Ledger's neighbor on Estes Road, Jason Davis. He told other neighbors after the February 2008 shooting that he was saddled with the emotional chore of telling his young daughter that her little dog would not be coming back.
Cyndi Mitchell, who lives across the street from Ledger, has told authorities that she witnessed Ledger shoot the dog in front of her house with a pellet rifle when she went to investigate why her dogs were barking.
The tiny dog lurched to one side after being shot, then rolled into a yard where she died, Mitchell has said.
She saw Ledger lower the pellet gun and walk inside his home with one of his children. The dog had a hole in her neck just above her pink rhinestone collar, Mitchell has said.
Ledger initially lied to investigators about the dog's death but later told deputies he shot the animal, according to records filed in the case. | Source: Waco Tribune - April 28, 2009
Update posted on May 28, 2009 - 1:42AM |
Local FBI agent Lovett Leslie Ledger was indicted by the McLennan County grand jury this morning on a cruelty to animals charge, a state jail felony, in the killing of a Chihuahua in his neighborhood.
Ledger, 39, allegedly shot the dog, named Sassy, with a pump pellet gun in front of his home near Lorena on Feb. 29.
If convicted of a state jail felony, Ledger faces 180 days to two years in a state jail and a fine of up to $10,000.
Five witnesses testified before the grand jury, including Ledger and his wife, Jacqueline. Les Ledger testified for about 25 minutes; his wife for 10.
Grand jurors also heard from the dog's owner, Jason Davis, and McLennan County Sheriff's Lt. Clay Perry.
Ledger's attorney, Rob Swanton, declined to comment after hearing of the indictment. Prosecutor Crawford Long also declined comment.
In a previous story in the Tribune-Herald, a neighbor who said she was home the afternoon of the incident said she heard her dogs barking and went outside to see Sassy walking on Estes Road.
The dog lurched to one side upon being shot, then rolled into a yard, where she died, the neighbor said.
The neighbor also said she saw Ledger lower the pellet gun and walk inside his home with one of his children. A group of people gathered around the dog, and the neighbor said she could see a hole in Sassy's neck above her pink rhinestone collar. | Source: Waco Tribune - July 9, 2008
Update posted on Jul 13, 2008 - 7:59PM |
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