Warden guilty in pet killings Man gets one year probation

INDIAN TOWNSHIP – A game warden for the Passamaquoddy reservation at Indian Township who trapped and killed his neighbor’s pets was sentenced Wednesday to one year of probation.

Pleasant Point Police Chief Joseph Barnes said Clayton Sockabasin, 32, pleaded guilty to one count of cruelty to animals and one count of violating tribal hunting ordinances shortly after his trial began in Passamaquoddy Tribal Court at Indian Township.

The Pleasant Point Police Department summoned Sockabasin last March after he allegedly killed seven cats and a dog with a trap in his garage at Peter Dana Point, north of Indian Township.

He was charged with cruelty to animals, a Class D crime, and violating a number of tribal hunting ordinances, including trapping near a dwelling, violating killer-trap restrictions, and killing domesticated or tame animals.

Barnes – who is also the chief administrator of the Passamaquoddy Warden Service at Pleasant Point – said Sockabasin pleaded guilty to two of the charges in exchange for a $500 suspended fine and one year of probation.

The terms of Sockabasin’s probation include a one-year prohibition on trapping or hunting with a firearm and a requirement that he write letters of apology to the pet owners, the chief said.

Indian Township Governor Richard Stevens could not be reached for a comment Thursday on whether Sockabasin will retain his job as a game warden on the reservation.

But Pleasant Point Game Warden William Nicholas – the investigating officer on the case – said law enforcement officers who are convicted of a Class D offense lose their law enforcement certification from the Maine Criminal Justice Academy.

The warden service at Pleasant Point became involved in the case after receiving a written complaint from a tribal member at Indian Township.

Barnes said in an interview last March that Sockabasin used a conibear trap – also called a killer type because of strong jaws that snap or break the neck of an animal. He baited the trap and set it up in his garage, leaving the garage door partially open, the chief said.

An attempt to reach Sockabasin on Thursday was unsuccessful.

Denise Polches, whose 11/2-year-old cat Sugar, was one of the victims, said she understood that Sockabasin had been upset because cats were “spraying” in his garage.

“I don’t blame him for being upset, but why didn’t he use a trap to contain the animals – not one that killed them?” Polches said Thursday. “He’s a game warden and is supposed to know things like that.”