Case Details

Cockfighting - 35 birds found
Monroe, OR (US)

Incident Date: Tuesday, Aug 21, 2007
County: Benton
Local Map: available
Disposition: Alleged
Charges: Misdemeanor

Alleged: Martin Ramos-Reyes

Case Updates: 2 update(s) available

Case ID: 12096
Classification: Fighting
Animal: chicken
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Drugs or alcohol involved
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Corvallis Police have arrested a Corvallis man and charged him with running a cockfighting operation following an investigation that lasted more than a month.

Officers searched the Van Beek Dairy near Alpine and found more than 35 birds.

Police seized as evidence two roosters they said showed signs of having been used for the illegal fights. The rest of the birds were left at the dairy.

Martin Ramos-Reyes, 37, was arrested Tuesday and charged with one count of cockfighting and one count of possession of methamphetamine.

He remains in custody at the Benton County Jail.

Police Lt. Tim Brewer said the investigation revealed Ramos-Reyes had claimed to be making as much as $30,000 a night from people gambling on the fights.

Breeders attach razors up to 3 inches in length to the birds' claws for fighting, according to police Detective Brett Roach. Ramos-Reyes is an employee at the dairy and lives there.

Roach said police believe birds had been bred and raised at the dairy for fighting for several years.

The dairy's owners, brothers Fred and Martin Van Beek, cooperated with the investigation and are not involved in the alleged cockfighting organization, police said.

Cockfighting is new to Benton County, according to Brewer. It could be hard to track because the fights are likely moved from place to place.

"This is the first time it's come to our attention," Brewer said. "It's abusive to animals, and it appears it goes beyond cockfighting; it involves gambling and drug use."

Most states banned cockfighting decades ago. Louisiana became the last to do so, passing a bill this year that becomes effective in 2008.

Case Updates

A witness to a cockfighting operation at a dairy south of Corvallis saw as many as 200 roosters bred for fighting, according to court documents released Thursday, as well fake identification documents being bought and sold.

Nicole Courser, 25, was living with her boyfriend, Jose Lopez-Perez, who was an employee living at the Van Beek Dairy near Monroe. Courser told members of the Corvallis Police Department and Benton County Sheriff�s Office combined Street Crimes Unit about illegal cockfights, some being held in a building at the dairy, according to the documents.

Police arrested the dairy�s manager, Martin Ramos-Reyes, on Tuesday and charged him with running a cockfighting organization and possession of methamphetamine. Ramos-Reyes is a Mexican national and is being held in the Benton County jail on $30,000 bail.

Six other dairy workers were taken into custody Tuesday by Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers. They were transported immediately to a federal jail, most likely in Lane County, and will be sent to the ICE center in Tacoma, Wash., according to Benton County Chief Deputy District Attorney Chris Stringer.

Amy Van Beek, whose husband, Martin Van Beek, and brother-in-law, Fred Van Beek, are partners in the dairy, told the Gazette-Times that the owners did not know about a cockfighting operation. Authorities said the Van Beeks cooperated with the investigation.

Courser�s mother, Kathy Kentta, told the Gazette-Times she believed she heard a cockfight going on at the dairy a couple of months ago, in a building about 25 feet from her daughter�s trailer.

�I was over there seeing my daughter,� Kentta said, �and I heard a lot of whooping and hollering in the building. You could hear the chickens fighting.�

Kentta said she went over and beat on the outside wall of the building.

�Everything got so quiet, so fast,� she said.

The next day, her daughter took Kentta into the building where she heard the fight and showed her at least a dozen roosters.

Courser first contacted the Benton County Sheriff�s Office on July 5 to report an assault by her boyfriend. According to Kentta, Courser was at the hospital being treated for injuries she received during the assault when she told deputies about drug deals and cockfights at the dairy.

Courser told officers it was Ramos-Reyes who was breeding the birds and outfitting them for fighting, according to the court documents.

A week later, according to the documents, Courser told a detective from the Street Crimes Unit that she had her boyfriend�s fake Social Security card and resident alien identification, both of which had been provided to him by Ramos-Reyes for $300.

Those documents were turned over to police and according to court documents were clearly fakes; the wrong color, containing numerous typographical errors and with text printed upside down.

Police found more of the fakes during their search of Ramos-Reyes� home Tuesday.

�We seized several of what we believe to be faked documents,� Corvallis Police Lt. Tim Brewer said. �There were Social Security cards and several other types of ID.�

According to the court documents, Courser also told police she had seen the curved knife blades � called gaffs or slashers � designed to be attached to roosters� claws. She said they were between 1 and 3 inches long. She told police Ramos-Reyes boasted of routinely making $25,000 to $30,000 a night on the cockfights.

The court documents said spectators often pay between $100 and $1,000 per person to watch a cockfight.

Fighting roosters can be worth thousands of dollars. Courser told police Ramos-Reyes had claimed one of his roosters was worth $350.

Kentta said Courser moved a few weeks ago to the Portland area, where she has a job.

�I�m glad my daughter is out of there,� Kentta said.
Source: Corvallis Gazette-Times - Aug 24, 2007
Update posted on Aug 24, 2007 - 4:21AM 
A 37-year-old man whom police said claimed to make up to $30,000 a night in cockfights has been arrested on charges of running the operation.

Suspect Martin Ramos-Reyes, pictured below, lived and worked at the VanBeek Dairy near Alpine, where officers found more than 35 birds and evidence that two roosters had been used for illegal fights.

Police said the dairy's owners cooperated with the investigation and were not involved in the alleged cockfighting organization.

"I'm surprised that I didn't know (it was going on)," said dairy owner Martin VanBeek.

He said he knew Ramos-Reyes was breeding the birds in the backyard and in a dairy outbuilding, but he said he did not know that alone was illegal. VanBeek also said he did not believe the birds were being used for fighting.

"I'm very surprised by it because it's very contrary to what we're all about," VanBeek said. "We're about animal husbandry."

According to court documents, a search of the dairy led to the discovery of 23 chickens, 12 roosters, DVDs showing cockfighting and catalogs for ordering cockfighting supplies.

A police informant also claims to have seen a black briefcase full of spurs � 1- to 3-inch blades used for cockfighting � in Ramos-Reyes' possession.

"What some people will do is they will attach razors or small knives or some type of implement for killing the other animal," said Corvallis police Lt. Dave Henslee.

According to police, these fights brought in big money. Ramos-Reyes apparently made $30,000 in gambling proceeds off just one cockfight.

Benton County District Attorney John Haroldson said this sort of animal cruelty case is unusual, but he realizes times have changed.

"Nationwide we're starting to see a greater awareness of cases where animals are tortured, whether that's dogs or roosters," he said.

The police investigation into the cockfight also led federal immigration officials to find six undocumented workers at the dairy. They were taken into custody for deportation.
Source: KOMO-TV - Aug 22, 2007
Update posted on Aug 23, 2007 - 1:31PM 

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References

Corvallis Gazette - Aug 22, 2007

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