ROBERTO HERNANDEZ: Teen accused of setting fire to cat, feeding it to dogs gets no jail time

MIAMI — A Florida teen who prosecutors said burned a cat to death and fed it to pit bulls won't serve any time in prison.

According to the Miami Herald, Roberto Hernandez, 19, of Miami, was sentenced Friday to 100 hours of community service and five years' probation after pleading guilty to a felony animal abuse charge.

Surveillance footage from the 2016 incident appears to show Hernandez, who was 17 at the time, lighting a caged animal on fire and watching it burn, the Herald reported. He then fed the animal to his dogs, prosecutors said.

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Although a witness said the animal was a cat, Hernandez said it was a rabid raccoon, the Herald reported.

On Friday, Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Nushin Sayfie, who watched the video, said she thought Hernandez was telling the truth.

"I don't think jail time is appropriate," said Sayfie, who also stressed that a raccoon should not be "treated in that manner."

Sayfie also issued a "withhold of adjudication" instead of a conviction in the case, so he "won't be considered a felon," the Herald reported.

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