Seattle software CEO gets 10 days jail for bison slaughter

A software executive has been sentenced to 10 days in jail for authorizing the slaughter of 32 of his neighbor's bison that wandered onto his Colorado ranch.

Jeff Hawn of Austin, Texas, pleaded guilty in November to criminal mischief and animal cruelty. He was sentenced Wednesday.

Prosecutors say Hawn gave 14 hunters permission to hunt the bison on his Park County land. The carcasses were found in March.

As part of a plea agreement, Hawn paid $83,000 to the bison's owner, $70,000 to charities and $4,000 to the sheriff's department.

The criminal mischief charge, a felony, will be wiped from his record if he stays out of trouble during two years of probation.

Hawn is CEO of Seattle-based Attachmate Corp.

The information in this article, originally published January 28, 2009, was corrected January 28, 2009. Attachmate Corp. is based in Seattle. A previous version of the incorrectly reported that Attachmate was based in Bellevue.