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Case #15578 Rating: 4.0 out of 5
Dog-fighting - 20 dogs seized
Lenawee, MI (US)Incident Date: Wednesday, Jun 17, 2009
County: Lenawee
Charges: Misdemeanor
Disposition: Convicted
Defendants/Suspects:
» Joshua Gates
» B. Jay Rodriguez
» Martin Phillips
Case Updates: 4 update(s) available
Twenty pit bull terriers allegedly being trained for dogfighting were seized Wednesday from two locations in Lenawee County as part of a federal investigation.
A section of the Lenawee Humane Society shelter in Adrian is filled with 11 of the dogs, some of them badly scarred on their faces and legs. Nine other dogs were temporarily taken in by private individuals who volunteered to help, said Sheriff Jack Welsh.
The dogs are to remain in custody locally while an investigation is continued by the law enforcement arm of the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Court action to determine their fate is expected to begin soon. One man in Lenawee County was arrested during raids Wednesday on an unrelated charge, Welsh said.
Welsh said he became aware only Tuesday that federal agents had targeted two locations in Lenawee County where it is believed pit bulls were being trained and sold.
"I was kind of shocked when they came in and said what they wanted," Welsh said. There have been tips and rumors for years about dogfighting activity in the county, he said, but nothing has developed into the type of enforcement action that that was carried out Wednesday.
The USDA's Office of Inspector General, which conducts federal investigations of dogfighting across the country, developed evidence against the two dog owners in Lenawee County. There was also a raid in Bad Axe where about 30 dogs were seized. The investigation also involved operations in other states.
"There were no indications that any fighting was was taking place here," said Lenawee County Undersheriff James Anderson. But training equipment that includes tread mills and sticks used to separate dogs were seized at the two local sites along with other equipment and accessories used in dogfighting.
Sheriff's deputies and animal control officers, Michigan State Police from the Adrian post, Madison Township police and officers from the OMNI drug investigation team helped two USDA agents in executing search warrants authorized by a Lenawee County District Court judge.
Pit bull dogs were seized from rural homes in Madison and Ogden townships. At one home they were chained outside to separate dog houses.
Small amounts of illegal drugs were also reported seized.
The Humane Society of the United States announced that it assisted with the investigation leading to Wednesday's raids. The HSUS said it provided assistance on scene with evidence collection and seizure, and the Michigan Humane Society and Missouri Humane Society helped handle dogs on the scene.
Welsh said those agencies assisted in Bad Axe while local police, Lenawee Humane Society staff and volunteers provided support here.
Welsh and Humane Society staff members petted dogs that seemed eager for affection during a visit to the shelter Thursday. But it is unlikely the seized dogs could be offered for adoption, said Bonnie Tancredi, executive director of the Lenawee Human Society. Tancredi said their docile behavior in the cages could suddenly change on a street or in a home.
"You don't know if you can trust them. They've been deprived of food. They've been teased," she said.
One of the dogs is too vicious for staff members at the shelter to enter its cage, she said.
Most of the dogs appear to be in the range of 3 to 5 years old, said Rachel Houser, veterinary technician for the Lenawee Humane Society. Ages are difficult to estimate because of the abuse they have suffered, she added.
The fighting dogs now safely held inside the shelter may not be as rare in Lenawee County as most people would assume, Houser said.
"I think there's a lot more than the general public realizes," she said.
Welsh agreed. Dogfighting operates in closely controlled networks similar to drug trafficking, he said.
"I'm pleased that they finally broke this ring," Welsh said. "I hope they prosecute them to the fullest."
"Dog fighting is a criminal underground industry that breeds horrible animal suffering and violence," said Chris Schindler, deputy manager of animal fighting law enforcement for the HSUS and who participated in the raids. "We commend the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Office of Inspector General for their diligence in pursuing this investigation. Step by step, this nationwide business enterprise built on misery is being dismantled," he said in a statement issued Thursday.
Case UpdatesMadison Township man arrested in a federal dogfighting investigation was given a 10-day Lenawee County Jail term for local charges stemming from a June 17 raid at his home.
B Jay Rodriguez was sentenced Monday in Lenawee County District Court where he pleaded guilty Aug. 12 to misdemeanor counts of unlicensed dog, unvaccinated dog and marijuana possession. Rodriguez is to be sentenced Dec. 8 in U.S. District Court in Detroit for two federal dogfighting charges he pleaded guilty to on Sept. 2.
Rodriguez was ordered to pay $5,805 restitution in the Lenawee County case, along with a $250 fine and $777 court costs. He is prohibited from owning any animals during his two-year probation period.
Rodriguez was arrested in June along with Joshua Gates of Ogden Township and Martin Phillips of Bad Axe. The three were accused of engaging in dogfighting matches and breeding, selling and training fighting dogs in a business they called Pitformance Kennels. Forty-nine pit bull dogs were seized from the three men’s homes.
The three were facing a Sept. 1 trial in federal court before Gates took a plea bargain on Aug. 25. The agreement included his acknowledgment that all three started and developed Pitformance Kennels since 2005 and bred, bought, sold and trained fighting dogs at each of their homes. He specifically admitted selling a dog on March 9 that was trained and conditioned for fighting, that he took a dog to a fighting match on May 24 and that he, Rodriguez and Phillips talked on May 27 about holding a match at Phillips home near Bad Axe.
On Sept. 2, Rodriguez pleaded guilty in federal court to selling a dog on April 24 for participation in an animal fighting venture and to exhibiting a dog in a fighting venture on May 24.
Phillips also pleaded guilty Sept. 2 to the same two counts and is scheduled for sentencing on Dec. 8 in federal court in Detroit. | Source: the Daily Telegram - Sep 23, 2009
Update posted on Sep 29, 2009 - 11:37AM |
The Lincoln Township man busted by the U.S. Department of Agriculture in mid-June for his role in a dogfighting ring appeared Wednesday in U.S. District Court where he pled guilty to two felony counts of transporting animals for fighting ventures.
In a plea agreement reached by prosecutors, Martin Phillips, 34, pleaded guilty Wednesday to two felony counts. In return for Phillips guilty plea, one count of conspiracy to defraud the United States government will be dismissed at the time of sentencing before Judge David M. Lawson at 3:30 p.m. Dec. 18 in U.S. District Court in Detroit.
Phillips was reportedly part of a trio indicted June 29, following simultaneous raids on June 17 in Huron and Lenawee counties by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Office of Inspector General.
Seized in the raid were a total of 50 pit bulls plus dogfighting and training equipment, medical supplies, computers and a dogfighting magazine.
The Huron County Sheriff’s Office assisted in the Lincoln Township raid at Phillips’ property located on Church Road near Carpenter Road. Investigators there seized 17 pit bull dogs, varying in age, from the Phillips' property. Court documents indicate that in late April Phillips had more than 30 pit bull dogs there.
Authorities charged Phillips, along with B. Jay Rodriguez, 28, of Adrian, and Joshua Gates, 25, of Blissfield, following the raid.
Rodriguez entered into the same plea deal as Phillips, and he also will be sentenced in December.
Gates pleaded guilty to conspiracy to promote an animal fighting venture; buying, selling or delivering an animal for a fighting venture; and sponsoring or exhibiting an animal in a fighting venture. He will be sentenced in early December.
Investigators have said the trio, started the dog fighting activity around 2005. The three operated Pitformance Kennels, a business that bred, bought, sold and trained fighting dogs at all the men’s homes.
They also fought the dogs at other locations, according to court documents.
The defendants posted match results and ads in “Sporting Dog Journal,” a dog fighting magazine distributed in Washington, D.C., North Carolina and other locations, federal investigators said.
Pitformance Kennels also operated a web site to advertise and sell fighting dogs. | Source: Huron Daily Tribune - Sept 4, 2009
Update posted on Sep 4, 2009 - 8:59PM |
Federal agents assisted by Lenawee County sheriff's deputies, Michigan State Police and Madison Township police seized 20 pit bull terriers on June 17 from Gates' home in Ogden Township and the Madison Township home of B. Jay Rodriguez. A similar raid occurred the same day in Bad Axe, where 30 pit bull dogs were seized from the home of Martin Phillips.
Gates, 25, and Phillips, 34, were arraigned on conspiracy and dog-fighting-related charges in United States District Court on June 30. Rodriguez, 28, failed to appear in court that day but was arraigned July 2 and released on bond.
All three men entered "not guilty" pleas and are scheduled to be tried together, beginning Sept. 1.
Because Gates remains in federal custody, said Gates' defense attorney, Craig Tank, he expects the trial will begin on that date.
Gates' defense, he said, will be supported by people that will include officials from some Humane Society organizations in the region.
"There's a lot of witnesses who will corroborate his story. There will be a large number of witnesses," Tank said.
A federal grand jury indictment unsealed June 29 alleged that Gates, Rodriguez and Phillips worked together in running a business called Pitformance Kennels where dogs were bred, trained and sold for fighting and entered in dog-fighting matches.
The indictment stated Gates accepted a $75 entry fee from a person for a dogfighting match scheduled for May 24 and that Gates and Rodriguez took a dog to Lansing on that date to participate in a dog-fighting match. The two Lenawee County men and Phillips are also accused of talking with each other on May 27 about a match they planned to hold at Phillips' property in Bad Axe. | Source: lenconnect.com - Jul 11, 2009
Update posted on Jul 11, 2009 - 11:52PM |
A southeastern Michigan man charged with dogfighting crimes didn't appear in court and is considered a fugitive.
The U.S. attorney's office says B. Jay Rodriguez of Adrian was supposed to make his first appearance Tuesday in federal court in Detroit, but he was a no-show.
Rodriguez and two other men are the first in Michigan to be charged under federal anti-dogfighting laws. Prosecutors say they conspired to promote fights and raise and sell pit bulls starting in 2005.
Forty-nine dogs were seized in Lenawee and Huron counties in mid-June.
Martin Phillips of Bad Axe was released on bond Tuesday, while Joshua Gates of Blissfield remains in custody. | Source: WLNS - July 5, 2009
Update posted on Jul 5, 2009 - 6:06PM |
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