LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A southeast Nebraska man has been given probation and fined $2,000 for killing dozens of snow geese after hours without a permit. 19-year-old Nyle Bartling, of Syracuse, pleaded guilty to violating the Migratory Bird Treaty Act. He was sentenced on Wednesday in federal court in Lincoln. Bartling won’t be allowed to hunt for the next two years, while on probation. The U.S. attorney’s office says Bartling shot 86 snow geese after legal hunting hours in March 2011 at a private pond in Otoe County. Another man, Connor Marcoe, is also charged. Bartling says they were trespassing and left the birds when the property owner heard the shots and authorities arrived. Marcoe is to enter a plea in June.

GERING, Neb. (AP) — A Scottsbluff man plans to appeal his murder conviction and life sentence. A lawyer for Daniel Morgan filed the notice on Wednesday in Scotts Bluff County District Court. Grounds for the appeal have not been specified. Morgan was convicted in March of killing Dominic Marquez in May 2011. He was sentenced last month. Morgan claims he just wanted to confront Marquez because Morgan’s girlfriend, the mother of Marquez’s child, had been harassed and threatened by Marquez’s friends. Prosecutors say Morgan was armed when he drove to Marquez’s home and sent text messages that said he was “going after” Marquez. Police recovered 34 shell casings at the scene.

 

(Lincoln, Neb.)- A 41-year-old Lincoln man has been arrested on a charge of first-degree sexual assault of a child in connection with a child prostitution case out of Buffalo County.

Shad Chandler, 41, Lincoln was taken into custody at his home in Lincoln on April 30 and lodged in the Lancaster County Jail. Chandler’s records were sealed by the Court as the investigation into the prostitution case continued. The seal was lifted by the Court late Wednesday, May 10.

Chandler is the third male arrested in connection with the case. Alex Rahe, 28, Omaha and Donald Grafe, 37, Columbus have also been arrested in connection with the investigation. Rahe was lodged in the Buffalo County Jail on May 2, on a charge of first-degree sexual assault of a child. Grafe was lodged in the Lancaster County Jail on May 5, on a charge of first-degree sexual assault of a child.

A 35-year old Upland Woman, Michelle Randall was arrested on April 26, and is currently being held in the Buffalo County Jail on charges of conspiracy to commit first-degree sexual assault and possession of child pornography.

The investigation into this case continues.

BATESVILLE, Miss. (AP) — Authorities have identified a Nebraska man who died after being shot while driving on Interstate 55 in north Mississippi.

Mississippi Highway Patrol spokesman Joey Miller said the man is 74-year-old Thomas K. Schlender of Raymond, Neb.

Miller said five shell casings were found on the interstate after the shooting early Tuesday morning in Panola County. It’s not clear if the shots were fired from another vehicle or from the side of the interstate.

Schlender’s car crashed into a divider in the median. He was alone in the car and no other motorists were hurt. The shooting happened Tuesday about 1:40 a.m.

His body has been sent for an autopsy. The investigation continues.

 

CRETE, Neb. (AP) — A 21-year-old driver has been charged with manslaughter for the death of a friend who’d fallen from the back of a truck near their college in southeast Nebraska.

Authorities say Cody Barnes faces up to 20 years in prison if convicted. His arraignment is scheduled for Tuesday in Saline County Court.

Police say 20-year-old Cody Fanning and some other friends were riding in the back of the truck around 3 a.m. on April 25 when Barnes turned. Fanning fell from the truck, striking his head on the street. He died at a hospital.

The accident occurred near Doane College in Crete, where Barnes and Fanning were both students.

A public phone listing for Barnes could not be found. A phone listed for his lawyer wasn’t answered on Thursday morning.

 

PAPILLION, Neb. (AP) — A 22-year-old La Vista woman who left her young children alone in a home so she could go drinking at a friend’s house has been given six months in jail.

Sarpy County court records say Michelle Polan was sentenced on Monday to two terms of six months, to be served at the same time. Polan was given credit for six days already served. She was convicted of two counts of negligent child abuse.

Police say Polan admitted she left the children alone in her sister’s basement in September. Polan’s sister called police after she came home to find the 9-month-old twins crying in the basement.

 

SCOTTSBLUFF, Neb. (AP) — A 40-year-old western Nebraska man accused of sending sexually explicit texts and videos to a 14-year-old girl has been given five to eight years in prison.

James Jay, of Bridgeport, was sentenced last week and given credit for 104 days served as he awaited trial.

Jay had made a deal with prosecutors and pleaded no contest to a reduced charge of attempted enticement by electronic communication device. They dropped another charge.

Court documents say the girl told her mother about the communications. An investigator with the Nebraska State Patrol later used the girl’s cellphone to electronically pose as her.

Authorities say Jay was arrested last July after he showed up for a sexual encounter the investigator had set up.

 

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — A 57-year-old Grand Island man has been given a year and a day in prison for Social Security fraud.

Jesus Chavez-Flores was sentenced in Omaha by U.S. District Judge Joseph Bataillon. Chavez-Flores must serve three years of supervised release after he leaves prison.

Prosecutors say that in April last year, Chavez-Flores used the name and Social Security number of a Texas resident to apply for benefits at the Social Security Administration office in Hall County.

The fraud was discovered when the Pasadena, Texas, resident applied for benefits in July.

Prosecutors say Chavez-Flores had bought the Texas man’s identification documents in Chicago in the mid-1980s and had used them to get jobs in several states.

 

COLUMBUS, Neb. (AP) — A small Nebraska school district will continue its tradition of a student-led prayer during graduation despite pressure from ACLU Nebraska to end the practice. The parent committee organizing next Sunday’s ceremony said that Lakeview High School’s graduating seniors have requested the prayer be included in the program. The ACLU sent a letter to the 685-student school district in November complaining the prayers at graduation ceremonies violated students’ First Amendment right to religious freedom. The Columbus-based district’s graduation ceremonies have been officially parent-run and voluntary since a 2001 ACLU complaint about the prayers. The district has tried to remedy the latest complaint by further separating the graduation ceremony from the school. ACLU Nebraska legal director Amy Miller said the changes aren’t enough.