No Sentence Change for Horse Abuse Convict

RAPID CITY, S.D. (AP) — A judge has refused for now to modify the sentence of a western South Dakota woman convicted of mistreating horses.

Terri Harwood is scheduled to begin serving a yearlong jail sentence on electronic monitoring later this month. Her attorney on Tuesday asked Magistrate Judge Shawn Pahlke to modify her sentence because her mother in Illinois is terminally ill.

Prosecutor Patrick Grode said he was willing to consider a sentence change later after Harwood has spent some time on electronic monitoring and started to make restitution payments. Pahlke agreed.

Pennington County authorities seized 69 horses from Harwood and her husband, Don, in January. They later were convicted on nine counts each of inhumane treatment of an animal. Don Harwood was sentenced to five years in jail but remains a fugitive.

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