Attorneys/Judges
| Prosecutor(s): | Stuart Dunnings III, Jeffrey Cruz | | Defense(s): | Jacob Sartz | | Judge(s): | James Giddings |
CONVICTED: Was justice served?
more information on voting
When you vote, you are voting on whether or not the punishment fit the crime, NOT on the severity of the case itself. If you feel the sentence was very weak, you would vote 1 star. If you feel the sentence was very strong, you would vote 5 stars.
Please vote honestly and realistically. These ratings will be used a a tool for many future programs, including a "People’s Choice" of best and worst sentencing, DA and judge "report cards", and more. Try to resist the temptation to vote 1 star on every case, even if you feel that 100 years in prison isn’t enough.
Case #11522 Rating: 2.3 out of 5
Dog-fighting - 8 dogs seized
Lansing, MI (US)Incident Date: Thursday, Mar 1, 2007
County: Ingham
Charges: Felony CTA
Disposition: Convicted
Defendant/Suspect: Delton Durane Jones
Case Updates: 7 update(s) available
Delton Durane Jones of 4615 Pleasant Grove has been charged with dog fighting and animal cruelty in 54-A District Court in Ingham County.
Deputies Yvonne Gaines and John Good seized eight pit bulls from the Jones residence in March along with multiple items believed to be related to dog fighting.
Jones waived his right to a preliminary hearing. A trial date has not been set.
Case UpdatesAccording to Ingham County Animal Control Director Jamie McAloon, convicted dog-fighter Delton Jones may be accepted into a special "Boot Camp" program that could gain his release from prison in as little as 90 days.
To express concern and recommend that Jones not be accepted into the program you may contact the following individuals:
Send an e-mail to the Transfer Coordinator at the Reception and Guidance Center at the Prison: Dale Holben at [email protected]
Write to the Judge at:
Hon. James Giddings
303 W. Kalamazoo
Lansing, MI 48933
The warden may be contacted at:
Warden Jeff White
3855 Cooper St.
Jackson, MI 49201 | Source: Ingham County Animal Control
Update posted on Oct 20, 2008 - 12:17PM |
Ingham County's first felony dogfighting case in years has ended in a prison sentence for a 38-year-old Lansing man.
Delton Jones, who was convicted last month of running a dogfighting business in his former Pleasant Grove Road home, was sentenced Wednesday to between 1 1/2 and five years in prison.
Jones owned dogs that either were seriously injured or killed during fights, Ingham County Circuit Judge James Giddings said during the hearing.
Allowing that to happen, Giddings said, violated a fundamental human responsibility to protect and care for animals kept as pets.
"Society expects more," he told Jones. "I expect more."
Jones was convicted of possession of devices used for dogfighting and possession of animals used for dogfighting.
Authorities said he bred and trained pit bull terriers to fight and even held fights at the southside home.
A jury found him not guilty, however, of hosting dog fights.
Animal Control Director Jamie McAloon Lampman said during the hearing that dogfighting causes both the animals and the community to suffer.
"This blood sport," she told Giddings, draws elements such as drugs and gambling that "bring down our neighborhoods."
Jones' friends said after the hearing that he was not fighting the dogs.
"Even if someone owns pit bulls, that doesn't mean they fight pit bulls," said Tony Johnson of Lansing.
Increased focus on dogfighting since former NFL quarterback Michael Vick was imprisoned for the crime led to Jones being targeted by authorities, Johnson said.
But prosecutors say dogs confiscated from Jones' house had multiple injuries - puncture wounds and old scars - consistent with fighting.
Jones' attorney, Jacob Sartz, said his client will not raise pit bulls again.
"He's deeply regretful this whole affair happened," Sartz said. | Source: Lansing State Journal - Oct 9, 2008
Update posted on Oct 13, 2008 - 11:57PM |
A 38-year-old Lansing man was found guilty Thursday of running a dogfighting business in his former Pleasant Grove Road home.
Authorities said Delton Durane Jones bred and trained pit bull terriers to fight and even held fights at the south side home.
Dogs often fight to the death, experts say, or until one isn't willing or able to continue.
In an interview after the verdict, Ingham County Prosecutor Stuart Dunnings III said he found the case, which is the county's only dogfighting trial in recent years, extremely disturbing.
"This was somebody who was harming the animals, ruining the animals' lives for commercial profit and entertainment," Dunnings said, adding: "It's like an industry of cruelty."
Jones, who remains free on bond, faces up to four years in prison.
Dunnings said Jones could face up to eight years in prison, if it can be shown he is a habitual offender. A sentencing hearing is set for Oct. 8 before Circuit Judge James Giddings.
Neither Jones nor his attorney, Jacob Sartz, would comment after the verdict.
Jones' friend, Tony Johnson of Lansing, said outside the courtroom that authorities had unfairly targeted a man who simply owned some pit bulls. Jones testified that he raised the dogs to sell as pets.
"Just because you own a pit bull, doesn't mean you're involved in dogfighting," Johnson said.
A jury of eight men and four women convicted Jones of possession of devices used for dogfighting and possession of animals used for dogfighting.
Prosecutors played a video during the five-day trial, which they said was found on a flash drive in Jones' basement.
The grainy video shows a man, who witnesses said resembles Jones, in an enclosed pen with two dogs. The dogs attack each other until one is completely exhausted.
A similar pen with plywood walls was found in Jones' garage, according to officials.
Jones testified that it is not him in the video. He said he downloaded it from the Internet while researching a book he is writing on people's misconceptions about pit bulls - a claim Assistant Prosecutor Jeffrey Cruz called "a fantasy."
Jones said puppies were kept in the pen.
"He was tying to run a legitimate pit bull operation," Sartz, said during closing arguments Thursday. "He was in the business of selling dogs."
Authorities raided Jones' home in February 2007 and seized eight pit bulls. One died of natural causes, and the others were eventually euthanized.
The dogs were extremely aggressive and had scars indicating they had been involved in fights, authorities said.
Ingham County Animal Control Director Jamie McAloon Lampman testified that she had never seen dogs as violent or aggressive toward each other.
On a scale of 1 to 10, she said the dogs were "a 12" on a scale of aggressiveness.
During closing arguments, Cruz listed equipment authorities found in Jones' home, which he said was used to train dogs for fights.
It included a "break stick" for separating dogs and a rusty garage door spring with a chain attached to it.
Cruz said the dogs would hang from the spring by their teeth to strengthen their jaws. | Source: Lansing State Journal - Sept 13, 2008
Update posted on Sep 13, 2008 - 2:41PM |
A 38-year-old Lansing man facing felony dogfighting charges has had the start of his trial delayed again.
Delton Durane Jones smiled as he left Judge James Giddings' courtroom Monday after it was determined the defense didn't have adequate time to examine a key piece of evidence - a flash drive.
The flash drive - a portable computer hard drive - was seized during the Feb. 23, 2007, raid of Jones' home. According to court records, it contains images of two dogfights.
"They got all the evidence, but we haven't had a chance to let experts examine it," Jones said.
Giddings said having the defense's expert witness review the flash drive's contents is critical.
"Some of the evidence that people rely on in this case relies on this flash drive," Giddings said. "The defendant, and the people, is entitled to see all the evidence."
Jones' attorney, Jacob Sartz, requested an adjournment because he said his witness was not able to review the evidence. Sartz declined to comment Monday.
During the raid by the Lansing Police Department of Jones' Pleasant Grove Road home, authorities also seized eight pit bulls. The dogs had bite wounds and scars characteristic of dogfighting, prosecutors detailed in court records.
While they were held in the Ingham County Animal Control Shelter, the pit bulls displayed aggression toward other dogs, vicious growling and attack postures, according to court records.
One eventually died of natural causes, and the other seven were recently euthanized.
According to court records, Ingham County Animal Control officers responded to Jones' home on several occasions between February 2005 and February 2007 for animal cruelty complaints, welfare checks and police assistance calls relating to the pit bulls.
Court records show officers found a videotape showing pit bulls fighting in an enclosed pen, similar to the one at Jones' home. The pen, located in Jones' garage, was an area enclosed by 4-foot-high wooden walls with a dirt and straw floor.
A dog-breeding flier was stapled to one of the walls.
Court documents also show the home had dog training equipment such as punching bags, dog muzzles, choke chains and bite sticks. It also contained items used for medical treatment, such as syringes, rabies vaccine, pill bottles and pills, antibiotic and steroid ointment creams, latex gloves, gauze and medical tape.
The case is expected to head back to trial in September. | Source: LSJ.com - Jul 15, 2008
Update posted on Jul 15, 2008 - 4:17PM |
Seven pit bulls confiscated in February from a Lansing man facing dogfighting charges already have cost Ingham County Animal Control more than $14,000 to care for and house, authorities said.
Those costs will only increase as the dogs' owner, Delton Durane Jones, awaits trial in one of the few felony dogfighting cases ever prosecuted in Ingham County .
Jones, 37, is scheduled to stand trial Oct. 8 in Circuit Court. During a pretrial hearing Tuesday, prosecutors requested that Jones forfeit his seven pit bulls, which are being held at the county animal shelter. Judge James Giddings did not make a decision on that request.
Authorities confiscated eight of the dogs in a Feb. 23 drug raid at Jones' home. One eventually died of natural causes. The pit bulls had numerous bite wounds and scars that are characteristic of dogfighting, prosecutors said in court filings. Lansing police conducting the raid on Jones' house at 4615 Pleasant Grove found the dogs.
Court documents also show:
� The home contained "substantial dog training equipment and items (used) for medical treatment of injured dogs."
� In the garage was an area enclosed by 4-foot-high walls that "resembled a dog-fighting pit." A dog-breeding flier was stapled to one of the walls.
� Officers found a videotape showing pit bulls fighting in a similar enclosed pen.
Jones' attorney, Michael Maddaloni, said after the hearing that the pen was where dogs would give birth. He said Jones would breed the dogs and sell the puppies. He didn't fight them," Maddaloni said. "He loved those dogs."
Medical exams of the dogs revealed old scars, puncture wounds and scabs on their bodies, authorities said. Maddaloni said the wounds were caused when the dogs bit each other. During the February raid, six of the eight dogs were so aggressive Animal Control officers had to tranquilize them, court records also show. While loading them on a truck, one of the dogs bit a sedated dog and would not release the dog's leg, shaking it violently. That dog had to be tranquilized a second time.
Providing food, medical care, vaccinations - as well as dealing with the dogs' violent behavior - has been a stress on the shelter, said Animal Control Director Jamie McAloon Lampman. "This is exactly why no shelter will touch dogfighting with a 10-foot pole," McAloon Lampman said. Jones' dogs are extremely aggressive, McAloon Lampman said. One attacked a stainless steel food bowl, after apparently seeing its own reflection. | Source: Ingham County Animal Control Shelter
Update posted on Sep 25, 2007 - 11:27PM |
| The trial for accused dog-fighter Delton Jones has been postponed. He is tentatively scheduled for trial the first week of October, however no actual date has been set. | Source: Case # 07-569 FH
Update posted on Aug 10, 2007 - 4:58PM |
Accused dog-fighter Delton D. Jones is scheduled for trial on August 7, 2007 at 8:30 a.m. in Judge Gidding's courtroom in the Circuit Court of Lansing.
Jones faces multiple felony dog-fighting charges stemming from an incident in March, when eight pit bulls were seized from his residence, along with multiple items believed to be related to dog fighting. | Source: Circuit Court Docket # 07-569 FH
Update posted on Jul 11, 2007 - 3:32PM |
References |
