In September, Reynolds admitted to his part in the slaying of the 3-month-old fawn-colored alpaca Masterpiece, taken from a Browns Run Road farm, clubbed to death and dumped in an abandoned barn in Montgomery County.
He pleaded guilty to breaking and entering; tampering with evidence; vandalism; grand theft; and a second-degree misdemeanor charge of cruelty to animals. He faced a maximum of nine years in prison for those charges.
According to the prosecution, Reynolds, Marcus Miller, 18, and Stacie Miller, 22, went to the farm of Jeff Pergram after a night of drinking. While chasing the baby alpaca in a pen, Miller struck the animal with a stick. Reynolds did not hit the animal until after the trio hauled it in the back of a truck to Mullins’ residence, according to the facts of the case.
“I thought I was doing the right thing because the animal was suffering,” Reynolds told the judge.
Reynolds, a high school junior who was 17 at the time of the crime, also pleaded guilty to attempted failure to comply with the order or signal of a police officer involving an incident this summer when Reynolds allegedly fled from deputies while driving Mullins’ car. The incident led to a crash in which he allegedly was under the influence of alcohol. He faced an additional year in prison for the last charge.
Before sentencing, Reynolds offered an apology to Masterpiece's owner.
“I want to apologize to Mr. Pergram for my actions,” Reynolds said quietly.
Pergram, who said he is no longer raising alpacas due to the ordeal, told the judge, “I am not here to chastise Nick … I have a ton of compassion.”
"I had four boys. You need to think before you react,” Pergram said. “God forgive you for what you have done.”
Defense attorney Paris Ellis pointed out a forensic evaluation of Reynolds says that he suffers from attention deficit disorder and has a problem with alcohol, but would be a amenable to treatment.
Spaeth noted that Reynold has no prior contact with the court system and did display remorse for his actions.
But Reynolds, “inflicted extreme cruelty on a defenseless alpaca, just three months old,” Spaeth said.
The judge also said his reckless driving endangered everyone on the road.
“No doubt you committed some very serious offenses and you are going to have to pay a serious price,” Spaeth said.
Spaeth gave Reynolds eight months in prison for breaking and entering and 90 days in the county jail to run concurrent for cruelty to animals, which is a misdemeanor.
He was given an additional 12 months in prison for failure to comply with the police officer. He was given five years community control on the remainder of the charges, ordered to spend 4 to 6 months in Community Correctional Center after release from prison and must do 100 hours of community service at an animal shelter. Reynolds was also ordered to pay $8,000 in restitution to Pergram, which is the value of the alpaca.
The cases against Mullins and Miller are still pending.
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