Country star pleads guilty in shooting of captive bear [with a bow and arrow]

[The Stranger]

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-0611280075nov28,1,3686084.story?coll=chi-newsnationworld-hed

Country star pleads guilty in shooting of captive bear

Published November 28, 2006


DULUTH, Minn. -- Troy Lee Gentry pleaded guilty Monday to a misdemeanor charge of falsely registering a captive bear as being killed in the wild.

Under the plea, the 39-year-old country singer agreed to pay a $15,000 fine, give up hunting, fishing and trapping in Minnesota for five years, and forfeit the bear's hide and the bow he used to shoot the animal in 2004. The bear, named "Cubby," was killed in a 3-acre private enclosure.

The plea meant Gentry avoided a trial, which had been scheduled to start Monday.

Gentry, of Franklin, Tenn., declined to comment to the Star Tribune of Minneapolis as he left the courthouse.