EFFINGHAM, Ill. (AP) — A 22-year-old southern Illinois man convicted of a felony for lying about shooting himself has told a judge he regrets a decision that he says “ruined” his life.

David A. Koester of Effingham was sentenced to probation Wednesday after pleading guilty to obstructing justice.
Koester initially told authorities someone shot him in the leg while he was jogging with his dog in the Little Wabash River bottoms on Dec. 19.

But after a search that lasted about a week and included a state police airplane, he admitted that he accidentally shot himself. He said he lied because he did not have a Firearm Owners Identification card.

The Effingham Daily News reports that Koester told the judge his felony record has ruined his plans to join the military.

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