Cockfighting - drugs and weapons seized Lafayette, IN (US) Incident Date: Monday, Oct 31, 2005 County: Tippecanoe Local Map: available Disposition: Alleged Charges: Felony CTA Alleged: » Martin Gaeta » Alvaro Garcia

Case ID: 11912 Classification: Fighting Animal: chicken View more cases in IN (US) Drugs or alcohol involved Login to Watch this Case

A judge issued a warrant for the arrest of a Lafayette man charged in connection with a drug dealing and cockfighting operation after the suspect failed to show up for scheduled plea hearing on August 2nd, 2007.

Martin Gaeta, 39, failed to show up for an 8 a.m. hearing in Tippecanoe Superior Court 1, where he was scheduled to enter a plea agreement.

Judge Pro Tem Joseph Bumbleburg ordered that a warrant be prepared for Gaeta's arrest, but he ordered the warrant held for two weeks to give Gaeta's attorney, Carl Sandy, time to track him down.

Sandy said he doesn't think Gaeta has absconded, but he has moved. He said Gaeta was scheduled to plead guilty to Class C felony forgery and be sentenced to a term on community corrections - some combination of work release, house arrest and day reporting.

According to reports, felony charges of dealing cocaine and conspiracy to deal cocaine and a felony charge of promoting animal fighting would be dismissed under the proposed agreement.

An alleged associate of Gaeta, Alvaro Garcia, 34, of Lafayette, was sentenced last month to 15 years for his role in the operation.

Gaeta and Garcia were among several people arrested in November 2005 when the Tippecanoe County Drug Task Force raided a property on County Road 1200 South, known as "The Ranch," where they found illegal drugs, weapons and a cockfighting operation in a barn on a 10-acre site.

Neighborhood Map

For more information about the Interactive Animal Cruelty Maps, see the map notes.

Back to Top

Add this case to:

Del.icio.us

|

Digg

|

Furl

|

References

Journal and Courier - Aug 2, 2007

Not sure what these icons mean? Click here.

Note: Classifications and other fields should not be used to determine what specific charges the suspect is facing or was convicted of - they are for research and statistical purposes only. The case report and subsequent updates outline the specific charges. Charges referenced in the original case report may be modified throughout the course of the investigation or trial, so case updates, when available, should always be considered the most accurate reflection of charges.

For more information regarding classifications and usage of this database, please visit the database notes and disclaimer.