A 25-year-old Miller man has pleaded not guilty to a federal indictment charging him with Violating the Migratory Bird Treaty Act and witness Tampering. Jeff Blachford was indicted last Tuesday and made his plea before Federal Judge Mark Moreno Friday. The indictment charges Blachford shot and killed a whooping crane and a hawk 17 miles Southwest of Miller in Hand County in last month. Blachford is also accused by federal prosecutors of persuading a witness to withold information from authorities. Whooping cranes are very rare with only approximately 600 of the left in the world. The Whooping Crane killed was one of about 300 endangered cranes that migrate from wintering areas along the Gulf Coast to the Woods Buffalo State park in Alberta and the Northwest Territories of Canada. It is the only self-sustaining whooping crane population in the world. Federal and State wildlife officials continue to investigate case. Blachford is out of jail on bond. Blachford faces up to 20 years in prison and/or a 250-thousand dollar fine and no more than three years of supervised release if convicted.
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