A La Jolla man pleaded guilty April 17 to threatening a seal activist who videotaped divers at Children’s Pool. The threat occurred in an explicit e-mail to a volunteer of the Animal Protection and Rescue League, which monitors contact between people and harbor seals at the tourist attraction.
Kent Douglas Trego, 54, could face a maximum term of 10 years in federal prison, but such a long sentence is unlikely, said his attorney, Mark Adams. The federal guideline range for such a crime is between 10 and 16 months, but the U.S. Attorney’s Office is expected to recommend five months in custody plus additional time in a halfway house on probation, Adams said on Friday, April 18.
Following the guilty plea, Adams asked U.S. District Court Magistrate Louisa Porter to release Trego on bail, but she denied his request. Porter earlier ordered Trego to remain in the Metropolitan Correctional Center without bail in light of death threats that were e-mailed to the unnamed activist.
The incident reflects the ongoing controversy at Children’s Pool between seal activists and others who say the beach should be used for children and not seals. People have walked on the beach and appear to be taunting the activists as well as the seals.
Sentencing is set for July 7. The activist videotaped Trego with two scuba divers who appeared to be disturbing the seals on Sept. 22, 2007. Misdemeanor charges were later filed against the divers, and the activist was considered a federal witness. Trego pleaded guilty to threatening a federal witness. Two other counts of transmitting threats in interstate commerce will be dismissed.
Trego remained on the beach when the two divers went into the water, which caused approximately 18 of the 50 harbor seals to rush into the water, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. The activist also videotaped the license plate of the vehicle in which the divers arrived.
Trego and the activist exchanged words, and the activist reported it to federal law enforcement agents of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
Trego used a public computer at the Riford Library in La Jolla on Jan. 12 to send a threatening message to the activist. Calling himself “Biker Bobbie,” Trego sent the death threat and created an e-mail account called [email protected].
The threat claimed the divers had friends in motorcycle clubs and told the activist she “will be dealt with very harshly, if not killed.”
The threat continued, “She has brought this on herself.”
No physical harm ever occurred to the activist, who reported the threat to authorities. Trego was indicted by a federal grand jury on March 4 and was arrested March 7.
Adams said his client has no criminal history. Trego, who is unemployed, spent a lot of time at Children’s Pool, something the magistrate said she considered when she denied bail for him.
Porter said she did not want him to return to the beach and interact with the activist or others he may have threatened.
The Children’s Pool was originally created in the 1930s as a shallow wading area for children, when philanthropist Ellen Browning Scripps paid for construction of the seawall.
There are health warning signs that say the beach and water has high fecal contamination by the seals, which are protected by federal law.