June 6 (UPI) — Fourteen defendants convicted in a large-scale federal dogfighting event in southwest Georgia have been sentenced to an average of two years in prison.
The dogfighting event occurred in Donalsonville, Ga., on April 24, 2022. Donalsonville is near the border with Florida and Alabama, 222 miles south of Atlanta.
The sentences range from six months home confinement for two defendants to 100 months in prison for Donnametric Miller, of Donalsonville, the U.S. Department of Justice said.
Two men from Panama City, Fla., received the next stiffest sentences: Fredricus White, 35 months, and Christopher Travis Beaumont, 30 months. Marvin Pulley, of Donalsonville, also was sentenced to 30 months.
Two defendants received credit for time served.
The court also imposed restitution for the care costs of dogs rescued in this investigation.
Under federal law, it is illegal to fight dogs, and to possess, train, transport, deliver, sell, purchase or receive dogs for fighting purposes.
“Dog fighting is an odious form of organized crime, and it’s a magnet for other criminal activity,” Acting Assistant Attorney General Adam Gustafson of the Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division said. “The Justice Department and its local partners, such as the Seminole County, Ga., Sheriff’s Office, will not tolerate this callous criminal activity.”
According to court documents, defendants from Georgia, Florida and Alabama converged on the location for the event.
Law enforcement arrived there after a 911 call and rescued 27 dogs that night, including one found in the blood-soaked fighting pit with severe injuries. It later died.
Prosecutors said participants used their cars to store injured dogs that had already fought and those before going into the fighting pit.
Law enforcement personnel also seized methamphetamine.
Investigators seized a cellphone that contained evidence of some of the participants’ extensive participation in the dog fighting “industry.”
Authorities seized and rescued 78 pit bull-type dogs in this investigation, including 51 recovered during search warrants executed this spring.
Agencies in Florida assisted in the case.
“The brutality of dog fighting, combined with armed drug distribution, negatively affects our community,” Acting U.S. Attorney C. Shanelle Booker for the Middle District of Georgia said. “The collaboration among law enforcement agencies at every level during this investigation and prosecution was essential in bringing these defendants to justice and rescuing abused animals.”