A Robbinsville man was sentenced to five months in prison last week for killing an black bear cub in Nantahala National Forest in October 2011.

Tyler Colvin, 20, of Robbinsville used a .50 caliber muzzleloader to kill a black bear cub in the Wayah Bear Sanctuary in the Nantahala National Forest in Macon County, according to court records.

Colvin had fired three shots at the cub, skinned it and removed the paws and some meat. He left the remainder of the carcass and the entrails in the forest. It is illegal to kill a bear weighing less than 50 pounds at any time and killing bears within a bear sanctuary is prohibited even during bear hunting season.

Forest agents then apprehended Colvin and retrieved the bear parts from his vehicle. He pleaded guilty in December 2012 to one count of transporting wildlife that had been taken in violation of federal laws and regulations.

In addition to the prison sentence, Judge Dennis Howell ordered Colvin to one year of supervised release and to surrender his hunting license while he is under court supervision. Colvin was also ordered to pay $2,232 as restitution to the N. C. Wildlife Resources Commission for the killing of the bear cub and forfeit his muzzleloader rifle, a powder horn and a deer call device.