Felon gets 10 years for killing two moose

BANGOR – An Aroostook County man who two years ago illegally felled two moose with two bullets was sentenced Monday to nearly 10 years in federal prison for being a felon in possession of a firearm when he fired the fatal shots.

Adam Melvin Hafford, 36, of Westfield also was sentenced to five years of supervised release in U.S. District Court.

He faced up to 15 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000.

Hafford, who has a long criminal history of numerous thefts and burglaries, shot the moose cow and her calf in October 2004 after he saw them grazing in a field on the Young Lake Road in Westfield, according to court documents.

He admitted killing the animals with a .30-06 pump action rifle and ammunition he borrowed without permission.

Hafford did not have a permit to hunt moose. His crime was discovered when Maine wardens investigated the moose remains found in Westfield after Hafford had butchered the animals.

In an unrelated case, Charles Walter Hayford, 20, of Winthrop was sentenced Monday in U.S. District Court in Bangor to five years of probation and ordered to pay a $2,500 fine.

Hayford was prohibited from possessing guns after a misdemeanor conviction for domestic violence last year in Kennebec County Superior Court.