May 1, 2003

© 2003 WorldNetDaily.com 

Jack Altsman will spend a mandatory 15 years in federal prison because he hunted deer on his own property, reports the Associated Press. 

The Beaver Falls, Pa., man was caught on the horns of a mandatory-sentencing statute requiring a minimum 15 years imprisonment for convicted felons found in possession of a firearm. Altsman, 43, has had two burglary convictions. 

U.S. District Judge Terrence McVerry said he had "great difficulty" in imposing the stiff mandatory sentence, according to the report. 

Altsman, who said he hadn't realized hunting was illegal for him, added that he was the only one available to hunt with his father, who suffers from Alzheimer's. 

"I wasn't in a bank with an automatic weapon," Altsman said. "I wasn't carjacking someone ... I wasn't in a bar with a gun. I was hunting." 

Altsman was witnessed hunting on his property in Hovey Township by deputy state game commissioners on Nov. 26, 2001, according to prosecutors. Ironically, said the AP report, he had pleaded guilty to possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, deciding not to challenge the charges because he feared he would receive a more severe sentence if convicted in a trial. 

However, according to sentencing guidelines of the Armed Career Criminal Act, the 15-year sentence was mandatory. McVerry could have sentenced Altsman to 19 years.