The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reports that 60-year-old Kenneth G. Ott of Butler, about 30 miles north of Pittsburgh, declined comment Thursday after a judge sentenced him to a year's probation on charges of tampering with evidence and unlawful importation of a wallaby, a kangaroo-like creature native to Australia.
The paper reports that last year a Pennsylvania Game Commission officer saw a wallaby at Ott's home. When the conservation officer returned several days later, the wallaby was gone.
Defense attorney Jeffrey P. Myers says Ott won't reveal where the wallaby is, but says that it is being well cared for.
Ott pleaded no contest in the case, which means he doesn't admit guilt but won't contest the wallaby charges.
