Updyke pleaded guilty to poisoning the trees after the Iron Bowl in 2010. He will be required to also pay $2,000 in legal fees and $16,500 in court costs.
He was previously sentenced to three years with at least six months in jail and spend five years on supervised probation for the Class C felony. He has been credited with 104 days already served. I actually view a six month jailing to be light given the destruction of these historic trees and the poisoning of the area. At the time, he posted a statement under a false name stating ”OK, let me tell you what I did the weekend after the Iron Bowl,” ‘Al from Dadeville’ told Finebaum on air. “I went to Auburn, Alabama, because I live 30 miles away and I poisoned the two Toomer’s trees. I put Spike80DF in ‘em. … They’re not dead yet, but they definitely will die.” He then signed off with “Roll Damn Tide.”
Once again, people like this truly mystify me. He clearly thought it was funny to kill these old trees and thought nothing about depravity of his actions. It is chilling to think of how many people like this are walking around society, as subject that we recently discussed with regard to people laughing and cheering as a man burned at a public concert. It seems to be the same phenomenon of people raised without basic sense of humanity or decency.
His lawyer says that Updyke had only $631 to his name at the time of the crime and was on Medicaid and Social Security disability. Yet, he had the money to buy Tebuthiuron to destroy these magnificent trees. His counsel insisted that he is now indigent but the court insisted that he get a job.
It is not clear if the court is prepared to put Updyke back in jail if he fails to get a job or make the payments. That could be the next fight, though it would take Auburn demanding such action.
Source: AO