A Botetourt County horse owner's troubles with the law could be over if he continues to abide by a court order to keep a limited number of horses on his farm.

Jack Cassell, 80, was charged in January with 33 counts of cruelty to animals after authorities said he allowed his herd of more than 30 horses to starve on his farm in Fincastle. He pleaded guilty to two counts of depriving an animal of food and water and agreed to reduce his herd -- at 28 horses after he was charged -- down to six by Wednesday.

Authorities confirmed that Cassell was in compliance with the court order.

"He's down to the number he's supposed to have," Botetourt County Assistant Commonwealth's Attorney Jill Deegan said. "It's ongoing that he can't be breeding, he can't have stallions, he can't have more than six."

Cassell is in the middle of serving a 20-day sentence under home electronic monitoring for having stallions on his property and trying to breed horses between January and Wednesday's deadline.

He received the jail sentence Sept. 1 after he was convicted of contempt in Botetourt County General District Court after animal control officers found a stallion on his property in August.

In May, Cassell was found in contempt of court for allowing a stallion to breed with a mare on his property.

"As far as we're concerned, unless there's some other violation, we're done with it," Deegan said.