Today Mikah Johnson was sentenced to 1 year in jail with credit for time served (8 months so far so four more left or less with good behavior), 200 hours of community service, and 3 years of probation with no contact with animals or people under 18. This falls far short of the hoped for 10 years. We are trying to take solace in the fact that this is the harshest punishment in the history of the state of Utah for animal cruelty. Judge Katherine Bernards-Goodman explained that if she sentenced Johnson to more than a year he would go to prison, and be released in weeks due to overcrowding. She sentenced him the maximum she could for county jail. We wish she would not have given him credit for time served but it may have been part of the plea bargain. The fact remains that this is precedent setting and we should be grateful that at least he didn't walk out of court today a free man as his defense Mr. Irvine argued. This petition made a difference and was referred to by both the defense and prosecution during sentencing. We had signatures from all 50 states and 70 different countries! The defense was outraged by the petition calling it inflammatory. During the hearing today the ex-girlfriend made a very touching statement and there weren't many dry eyes in the court room. She is traumatized and has nightmares about her hellish time with Mikah Johnson. She will be haunted by this the rest of her life. Prosecuting attorney Andrew Deesing said this is the most heart breaking case he has ever been a part of and it was an attack on innocence. He said that Johnson has shown he has no remorse by minimizing what he did by saying he "spanked" Moose for 30 minutes instead of brutally punching him to death. Johnson also admitted to spraying Moose in the eyes but claimed he didn't know it was Lysol and that he put Moose in the shower after to try and wash it out. Johnson stated in court today that he regrets what happened every day and that it was "just one moment of frustration." Judge Bernards-Goodman had some very harsh words saying the abuse was prolonged and repeated and was the equivalent of attacking a mentally handicapped human. Our work is far from over in this case and will go on for years. Johnson's attorney stated that as soon as his probation is over they are going to submit a 402 motion to have the felonies reduced to misdemeanors so Johnson can achieve his goal of being a fighter pilot with the U.S. Marine Corps. We cannot let that happen. Because many people could not sign the change.org petition due to internet privacy settings we have started a new petition at Care 2 petition site: http://www.thepetitionsite.com/772/001/776/demand-justice-for-puppy-who-was-tortured-and-killed/ Our goal is 100,000 signatures in the next 3 years to present at court when he has a 402 hearing, and also to the Department of Defense so they will issue a statement that under no circumstances will Mikah Johnson be allowed to join any branch of the military. What you can do in the meantime is please sign and share our new petition to prevent Mikah Johnson from getting his felonies reduced to misdemeanors or expunged entirely and to write to Mikah Johnson while he is in jail and let him know how you feel about what he did. Please do not swear and do not make any threats. You can check if he is still in jail here: http://iml.slsheriff.org/IML Mikah McKaden Johnson SO# 389978 c/o Salt Lake County Metro Jail 3415 S. 900 W. Salt Lake City, UT 84119 Here is the website explaining what letters will be accepted. Please note that you have the option for a $1 fee to send Mikah an email or leave him a voicemail. http://slsheriff.org/page_metro_communicate.php Thank you for all your support and please continue to support, sign, and most importantly share our new petition at Care 2: http://www.thepetitionsite.com/772/001/776/demand-justice-for-puppy-who-was-tortured-and-killed/