- FBI Agent Shot A Chihuahua Just Like This One/istock photo
By Allan Lengel
ticklethewire.com
The Texas FBI agent who shot and killed his neighbor’s 3 pound Chihuahua named “Sassy” with a pellet rifle in the Waco, Tex. area in 2008, is no longer with the FBI.
Erik Vasys, an FBI spokesman in San Antonio, on Tuesday confirmed that agent Leslie Ledger, 41, was “no longer an employee of the FBI.” He declined to discuss the circumstances behind Ledger’s departure several weeks ago. Ledger had been under internal investigation for the shooting, and had been expected to face some type of discipline, in all likelihood ranging from a suspension to a firing.
“Personnel actions are matters between the FBI and the employee themselves,” Vasys said in a statement. “As such, the Federal Privacy Act prohibits any further comment by the FBI on these matters.”
Ledger, who was assigned to Waco, pleaded no contest this summer in Waco, Texas’ 54th State District Court to felony animal cruelty and was placed on two years probation and ordered to serve 300 hours of community service.
His attorney Rob Swanton did not return a phone call for comment. Attempts to reach Ledger by phone on Tuesday were unsuccessful. One of the numbers listed under his name in Lorena, Tex., was disconnected.
According to media accounts, Ledger shot the dog in front of his rural home in Lorena, Tex. The dog belonged to a young girl down the street. Court documents show he first denied knowing anything about the shooting when sheriff’s investigators began looking into the matter.
The story of Ledger’s departure from the FBI was first reported by the Waco Tribune-Herald.
