Howard faces 1 year probation

A former supervisor in the Interior Department’s Minerals Management Service, which regulates oil and gas operations on leased federal property, was sentenced by a federal judge on Tuesday to one year probation and fines totaling $3,000.
Donald Howard, 59, of Destrehan, had pleaded guilty to failing to report that an oil industry contractor paid for a hunting trip he took in 2004. He faces sentencing Tuesday in U.S. District Court.

“I’d like to apologize to my wife for bringing this all about,” Howard said in court before he was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Jay C. Zainey.

Zainey, who ordered Howard to perform 100 hours of community service as a condition of probation, said Howard had an otherwise unblemished record while employed with the government and that prison time was not warranted.