Man Who Left Water For Illegal Immigrants Sentenced For Littering

TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) – A judge has ordered an Arizona man to pick up trash for 300 hours after he was caught leaving jugs of water in the desert for illegal immigrants crossing over from Mexico.

Walt Staton is a member of the group No More Deaths. He was cited for leaving the jugs in the Buenos Aires National Wildlife Refuge. A federal jury in June convicted him of littering.

Staton also was sentenced to a year of unsupervised probation, and he’s banned from the refuge for a year. He could have been sentenced to a year in prison and a $10,000 fine. Federal prosecutors had requested a $5,000 fine.

Members of No More Deaths and other supporters applauded Staton as he left the federal courthouse.

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Information from: KVOA-TV, http://www.kvoa.com/

(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)