LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A federal appeals court has tossed a Nebraska man’s sentence for shooting a pair of protected birds last year near Macy.

Lamar Bertucci has spent the past five months in prison for shooting an eagle and a rough-legged hawk.

A federal judge has set Bertucci’s resentencing for August 12th.

Bertucci pleaded guilty to killing the birds, but had disputed the $10,000 value that a federal probation officer put on the eagle.

The officer, who prepared Bertucci’s presentence report, relied on testimony from a Virginia-based wildlife expert, who estimated the replacement cost of the eagle.

The bird’s worth mattered to Bertucci because the amount of the loss can dictate the length of a sentence. He was sentenced last year to eight months in prison.