On Thursday, John Scott Falbo II, 24, was sentenced to a year in jail and three years of probation after pleading guilty for 9 counts of felony cruelty to animals with a lawn mower on May 2 in Wellington, Florida.
Sun Sentinel reports the Palm Beach County also charged Falbo with domestic battery. After his release from prison, Circuit Judge Glenn Kelley also ordered to render 10 hours of community service and mental health evaluation.
Falbo, who worked for a landscaping company was mowing the lawn when he reportedly ran over nine ducklings. According to a police report, "nine baby ducks lost their lives cruelly and viciously with extreme intent by Jason Falbo."
Falbo stated that the ducklings "were in my path so I just kept mowing."
Witness Boyd Jentzsch, who saw the brutal incident with his wife and young son, told WFTV that Falbo intentionally killed the ducklings while he was at the job.
"He wasn't even cutting the grass ... He went right toward [the ducklings] and veered to the left," he said.
Jentzsch just fed the 13 ducklings and their mother when he went inside the house. Looking outside the window, he saw Falbo slaughtering the baby ducks with the mower. When he ran out to yell at him to stop, Jentzsch was shocked to see Falbo just smiling at him and went on killing more.
"These are our friends," he recalled telling Falbo at the incident. "These are our babies, we love to feed them."
The owner of the house then called the police shortly after.
Facing the punishment for murdering the ducklings, Falbo is also prohibited by the court from owning "any animals of any kind."
"They should have just thrown away the keys. There is no justification for what he's done," Jentzsch added.
On March 31, Falbo was also arrested for violently choking his girlfriend during their fight.