ATHENS COUNTY, OH (WCMH) — A Glouster man was sentenced to two years probation and ordered to pay a fine after he was seen by witnesses killing an Osprey in 2015.

According to the Department of Justice, witnesses told the Ohio Division of Wildlife that while they were bird watching in April of 2015 when they heard two shots and saw the Osprey fall out of the sky.

The witnesses said they then saw a man use a fishing line to retrieve the bird from the water and strike it with a stick or pipe. The man then carried the bird into the woods where it was later found partially submerged in a creek.

The following day, during the execution of a search warrant, investigators approached a residence belonging to Rick Kesterson’s parents, in which Kesterson, 37, resides in the basement. Despite Kesterson’s mother telling authorities she was the only person home, investigators found Kesterson hiding in his bedroom, lying on the floor between two beds.

Kesterson was charged by criminal complaint in January 2017 with the unlawful killing of a migratory bird and indicted by a federal grand jury in May 2017. He pleaded no contest to the charge in federal court, and Judge Marbley found him guilty.

Kesterson was sentenced to two years of probation. He was also ordered to pay $500 in restitution to the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, forfeit his hunting license, complete 52 hours of community service at Burr Oak State Park and be subject to random house inspections and drug testing.