Anne Arundel County Man Sentenced To 90 Days In Jail For Jumping On Pelican

Heather Curtis
WMAL.com

WASHINGTON (WMAL) – If you commit a crime, it’s not the best idea to post a video of it on social media. An Anne Arundel County man found that out the hard way. William Hardesy, 31, of Riva, was sentenced April 23 to 90 days behind bars after being found guilty of violating the Migratory Bird Act and animal cruelty after he jumped on top of a federally protected pelican in a waterway in the Florida Keys. He posted a video of it on Facebook that went viral.

Hardesty was also given one year of probation and slapped with a $1,000 fine.

As if posting the video on Facebook wasn’t foolish enough, Hardesty also bragged to people in an Ocean City Hotel about being wanted for tackling a pelican.

Haresty was arrested in Ocean City March 15.