AP top news in Iowa at 3:58 p.m. CST

Iowa man sentenced in animal hoarding case

BLOOMFIELD, Iowa (AP) - A Davis County man has been sentenced to jail after nearly 300 animals were seized from his property and another 60 were found dead.

Prosecutors recommended the sentence after reaching a plea deal with Roger Blew, the Ottumwa Courier reported (http://bit.ly/13vPA0Mhttp://bit.ly/13vPA0M ). All but 10 days of the one-year sentence are suspended. Blew is indefinitely prohibited from possessing animals as part of the deal.

He had faced up to eight years.

Blew was charged in February with numerous counts of animal neglect after authorities found the animals in his Drakesville home. They say Blew owned a variety of animals, such as sugar gliders, mice, a ferret, a skunk and a raccoon.

This is the second animal-related conviction for Blew in the past year. He was convicted in Wapello County of animal cruelty and neglect after authorities found about 20 animals in his vehicle.

About 150 people attended an auction at his southeast Iowa home to bid on animal equipment and antiques.

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