AP

A California gray whale is unable to escape from a fishing net hours after Makah Tribal members harpooned then shot the whale in the Strait of Juan de Fuca east of Neah Bay, Wash in September 2007.

TACOMA, Wash. - Two Makah tribal members who led a rogue gray whale hunt last September have been convicted of federal misdemeanor charges in Tacoma, Wash.

U.S. Magistrate Judge J. Kelley Arnold found Wayne Johnson and Andy Noel guilty after the pair waived their right to a jury trial and admitted their roles.

Defense attorneys say their clients agreed to waive the jury trial so they could get on with appealing some of the rulings made in the case, including one in which Arnold determined their actions were not protected under the 1st Amendment right to religious freedom.

The two were convicted of conspiracy to violate the Marine Mammal Protection Act and unlawfully taking a marine mammal.

Three of their co-defendants have already pleaded guilty. Theron Parker, William Secor Sr. and Frankie Gonzales each admitted in federal court that they violated the Marine Mammal Protection Act.