Attorneys/Judges
| Judge(s): | Michael Wallace, T. Jackson Bedford Jr. |
CONVICTED: Was justice served?
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Case #12841 Rating: 5.0 out of 5
Dog-fighting - 15 dogs seized, more found dead
Atlanta, GA (US)Incident Date: Friday, Dec 21, 2007
County: Fulton
Charges: Felony CTA
Disposition: Convicted
Defendant/Suspect: Ossia M. Phillips
Case Updates: 3 update(s) available
A 31-year-old Atlanta man charged with dog fighting and animal cruelty was denied bond Saturday afternoon as Atlanta police continue to investigate an alleged dog-fighting ring in the Ben Hill neighborhood.
Ossia M. Phillips was arrested Friday when Atlanta police, acting on a tip, searched property at 4026 Blanton Ave. S.W. and found 15 live dogs, the bodies of several others, and a "contraption" in woods behind the home where they believe the pit bulls fought.
Phillips appeared in a Fulton County jail hearing before Magistrate Judge Michael Wallace, who denied bond and bound the man over for his next hearing Jan. 4 in Superior Court.
Officer James Polite, Atlanta police spokesman, said all the dogs found on the property were pit bulls. Some looked healthy; others had scars and wounds and appeared to have been in "altercations," Polite said.
The canines included two pit bull puppies that were found in cages in a rear bedroom of the home, which had no heat or electricity. All of the animals are now in the care of Fulton County Animal Services, police said.
Phillip's 4-year-old son was also found at the scene. He was staying with his mother Saturday, police said.
The Ben Hill neighborhood is an area on the rebound, with a mix of new homes, old homes, and a few boarded-up and abandoned dwellings.
Saturday afternoon, knots of neighbors and children gathered and watched as police searched the Blanton Avenue property and home, a dilapidated, single-story, green-and-white wood-framed house. A rusty trailer, an old car and a tricycle sat in the yard.
Neighbors said they occasionally saw pit bulls in the home's yard and Phillips walking them on a leash. A lot of cars sometimes were parked out front, they said.
At the jail hearing, Phillips's court-appointed attorney, Parag Shah, told Wallace that there was "a lack of evidence that this is actually his [Phillip's] location and actually his property."
Case UpdatesAn Atlanta man is going to prison for 10 years for running what police call a major dogfighting operation.
33 year old Ossia Phillips pleaded guilty in Fulton County Superior Court to 15 counts of dogfighting and 2 counts of aggravated animal cruelty.
In December 2007, police found 15 pit bulls and the bodies of several more, behind Phillips' property in Ben Hill.
A fighting ring was found in the woods behind the house. | Source: WSB Radio - Sept 4, 2009
Update posted on Sep 4, 2009 - 11:46PM |
A man suspected of running a large dogfighting ring lobbied for bail Monday, but he will remain penned in.
A Fulton County judge ordered Ossia Phillips, 31, to remain in the Fulton County Jail because he had violated the conditions of his bond on more serious pending charges - kidnapping a man at gunpoint.
Phillips is accused of helping two friends kidnap a man on March 20, 2007. As an accomplice drove, Phillips held a gun to the man's head, demanding $50, Fulton prosecutor Laura Janssen alleged in court. The victim was bound at the wrists and ankles and held hostage for hours while the culprits contemplated killing him, she said.
Phillips was out on bond awaiting trial on charges of kidnapping, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and possession of a firearm during the commission of a crime when he was charged with dogfighting in December. Phillips had vowed to stay out of trouble, away from drugs and guns, and had said he was living in College Park.
Instead, police say, they searched his southwest Fulton property on Blanton Avenue and found marijuana, a sawed-off shotgun, dogfighting ring with bleachers, dead dogs and 15 live pit bulls, some of them scarred or recently wounded.
Superior Court Judge T. Jackson Bedford Jr. told Phillips he was upset that Phillips had violated several conditions of his previous bond. The judge said he denied giving Phillips bail in this case because he feared Phillips might threaten witnesses and commit other crimes.
Phillips' attorney, Thomas Nicholson, had been lobbying for bail, claiming his client had no reason to run.
"He expects to be exonerated" in both the dogfighting and kidnapping cases, the attorney said. "He won't go anywhere to avoid it."
Nicholson also said Phillips had never been convicted of a felony.
But Janssen told the judge that Phillips pleaded guilty in 2000 to a felony drug dealing charge of possession of cocaine with intent to distribute, but was allowed to wipe his record clean as a first offender if he stayed out of trouble.
Phillips also was charged with dealing marijuana in 2005 when police were attempting to serve a murder warrant on his roommate and stumbled onto the drugs, an AKA-46 assault rifle and two bullet-resistant vests, Janssen said. The felony charge against Phillips was reduced to a less serious misdemeanor.
Regarding the dogfighting case, Janssen said police were still investigating how many people and dogs were involved. | Source: Atlanta Journal Constitution - Feb 25, 2008
Update posted on Feb 25, 2008 - 8:12PM |
New evidence - including the remains of several dogs and organized fight charts - show an Atlanta dogfighting operation was more extensive than investigators initially thought, police said Sunday.
"This is the first dogfighting operation of this magnitude," said Atlanta Police spokesman Officer James Polite.
Ossia M. Phillips, 31, was arrested Friday at his 4026 Blanton Ave. S.W. home after officers found 15 live pit bulls and the bodies of several others, police said.
On Saturday, Atlanta police investigators, a forensic veterinarian and an assistant district attorney searched Phillips' home and found additional dog remains, Polite said.
The forensic veterinarian is now testing the remains to determine the number of dogs and their cause of death.
Investigators also seized several handguns and rifles, along with documents detailing the extent of the operation.
"We found an organized chart system that referred to several different dogs, different fight times and different locations," Polite said. "We believe there will be more people because the documents found showed different fights."
Investigators are still trying to determine how long the ring was operating and how many members were included, Polite said. Additional arrests are possible, he said.
The new evidence is in addition to a "contraption" found Friday in the woods behind the Ben Hill neighborhood home where investigators believe the pit bulls fought.
Friday's bust was the result of one of several tips police have investigated, but it is the first to result in such a large operation, Polite said.
Police say the arrest and subsequent imprisonment of former Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick on dogfighting charges has not changed officers' crackdown on animal cruelty, but it has caused the community to take a renewed interest.
"Any illegal activity we're going to investigate," Polite said. "Due to the Michael Vick attention, it is still a touchy subject in the community."
Phillips is being held in the Fulton County jail without bond on charges of dog fighting and animal cruelty. Investigators say additional charges are pending.
He is scheduled to return to court Jan. 4.
Fulton County Animal Services said they are caring for 13 adult pit bulls and a puppy found caged in an unheated room.
"They're doing fine," Susan Feingold, animal service's executive director, said Sunday. "Some have some scars and wounds from fights, but they are all in relatively good health."
Animals Services must hold the dogs until the investigation in complete, Feingold said. A judge will then determine whether to euthanize the dogs because of possible aggression, put them up for adoption or turn them over to a rescue group. | Source: Atlanta Journal Consitution - Dec 23, 2007
Update posted on Dec 24, 2007 - 10:01AM |
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