A former Santa Maria man was sentenced to three months in federal prison for killing an elephant seal on a San Simeon beach in 2019.
30-year-old Jordan Peter Gerbich pleaded guilty in a US district court in Los Angeles in December.
Under the Marine Mammal Protection Act, the federal misdemeanor carried a maximum penalty of one year in prison and a $100,000 fine.
After he shot and killed the elephant seal, Gerbich mutilated the carcass on the beach.
