BILLINGS — A Laurel man who admitted to five felony aggravated animal cruelty charges for killing house cats so "people do not get hurt" has been sentenced.
Sean Robinson, 35, appeared Tuesday in Yellowstone County District Court where a judge ordered him to spend 10 years with the state Department of Corrections for the animal cruelty charges and an additional 10 years to Montana State Prison for unrelated felony drug charges.
Robinson was also ordered to pay a $5,000 fine - $1,000 for each cat he admitted to killing - to the Yellowstone Valley Animal Shelter.
Robinson was charged in June 2021 after authorities served a drug search warrant at his residence and discovered dead and mutilated cats on the property.
According to court records, Robinson admitted to killing approximately 10 to 12 cats that he stole or was given in the Laurel area between March and June of 2021. In a police interview, Robinson said the first cat he killed was in about 2007.
Robinson also said that he "has a thing for killing cats," court records state, and that he kills them so "people do not get hurt."
Robinson said two of the cats he killed in 2021 he received from people looking to rehome their pets on Facebook. Others he stole from neighbors or just picked up on the street.
"The evidence collected by investigators in this case showed that the Defendant methodically mutilated several of the deceased cats recovered in this case," prosecutors said in court records.
Robinson is currently being held in the Yellowstone County Detention Facility before he is transferred to begin serving the prison sentence.
