LEXINGTON, Neb. (AP) – Sentencing has been scheduled for two family members charged with animal cruelty following the deaths of dozens of cattle on a Nebraska farm.
Dawson County District Court records say 60-year-old Diane Wempen and 34-year-old Eugene Wempen Jr. have pleaded guilty to one count of abandonment or cruel neglect of livestock, resulting in death or injury. Prosecutors dropped seven other counts each in return. Their sentencing is set for July 29.
Diane Wempen’s husband, Eugene Wempen Sr., was sentenced in February to 30 months of probation and barred from owning, possessing or residing with any animals for 15 years. He’d pleaded no contest to a lone count of animal abandonment or cruelty resulting in death. He also was sentenced to 91 days of jail and credited for one day served.
Deputies reported finding at least 65 carcasses on the Wempen property near Overton.
