Patricia Gilfus, 60, and her husband Richard Gilfus Sr., 61, and their sons, John Gilfus, 28 and Richard Gilfus Jr., 36, of Sarr Road, in the Town of Mentz, Cayuga County, New York 13166, all three were convicted of 14 Counts of Cruelty to Animals; each of the counts were misdemeanors under the state's Agriculture and Markets Law. The verdict was rendered by a jury in Cayuga County Court, Auburn, NY 13021, on October 11, 2002 after a two week trial. Indictment Numbers were: 2002-031; 2002-032; 2002-033; 2002-034.
A fifth family member, Lisa Gilfus, was found not guilty of neglecting two dogs, indictment no. 2002-035.)
Cayuga County Judge Peter Corning sentenced Patricia Gilfus, 60, identified as the matriarch of the family, to 60 days in jail, followed by three years on Probation . Her sons, Richard Jr., and John, each got 30 days in jail, plus three years on probation. Additionally, the three can't own farm animals during the time that they are on probation.
Richard Gilfus, Sr. was sentenced to a conditional discharge. He was not given jail or probation because he had moved away from the farm in late 2001 and was no longer directly involved in the care of the animals in December 2001, although he had been under an order to improve the conditions of the animals at the time he moved.
Collectively, family members were charged by a Grand Jury with 750 counts of failure to provide proper sustenance for more than 320 farm animals. Judge Peter Corning ordered a trial on 14 of the counts against each defendant, which commenced September 30, and the defendants' indictments were consolidated for a single jury trial. The two-week trial involved 23 witnesses and over 100 photographs. The jury took less than half an hour to convict the family members of neglecting a menagerie of animals, including horses, a donkey, sheep, goats, llamas, and emus.
Judge Corning dismissed the remaining counts of the indictments after sentencing the four defendants on the convicted counts, on the grounds that proceeding to trial on the other counts would be a waste of judicial resources since convictions and sentences upon those counts would have to run concurrent to the terms already imposed as a matter of law because they all arose on the same dates and times. There were separate counts for each animal, and the trial had covered the counts that involved the animals that had been in the worst condition.
Over 321 animals had been seized by authorities on December 1 & 2, 2001. The animals included horses, a donkey, goats, sheep, llamas, emus, pigeons, ducks, roosters, and a pot-bellied pig. The seizure and investigation were led by the Fingerlakes SPCA of Central NY (Auburn), The Humane Society of Rochester and Monroe County at Lollypop Farms, The Cayuga County District Attorney's Office, and The Cayuga County Sheriff's Department. These organizations were assisted by cruelty officers, veterinarians, and staff from more than half a dozen agencies that came from all over the United States, including The ASPCA, the Houston SPCA, and the Humane Association of the United States.
On November 2, 2002, in a separate civil forfeiture case, Cayuga County Court Judge Peter E. Corning granted motions by the Finger Lakes SPCA of Central New York and the Humane Society of Rochester and Monroe County at Lollypop Farms, to take ownership of the 321 animals that had been seized on December 1&2, 2001. This came after the Gilfus family failed to make payments through the Court that were part of a stipulated order in the civil case. The Gilfus defendants agreed to an Order on April 16, 2002, to pay the Auburn-based Finger Lakes SPCA $375 a month to take care of four dogs and nine cats, and to pay the Humane Society $3,500 a month for the care of more than 300 horses, sheep, llamas, a donkey, goats, emus, llamas and a pot-bellied pig. Payments were to be made to the Court, and the Court dispensed the funds to the agencies. When the Gilfus family failed to make the payment for November 2002 on time, the agencies asked the Court to award them the animals, as the Order had provided. This was done in a civil case that was initiated by the agencies, and was not a consequence of the convictions in the criminal case. The Gilfus family has not perfected an appeal of that forfeiture order, and the time to perfect that appeal has expired.
Direct appeals of the criminal convictions to the Fourth Department, Appellate Division, and to the New York State Court of Appeals have both failed. The Appellate Division unanimously upheld the verdicts and the Court of Appeals rejected an application to review the appeals and the guilty verdicts stand. The family members have filed a Habeas Corpus Petition in the Federal Court for the Northern District of NY, but that is unlikely to be heard before their Probation terms have expired. The jail portions of their sentences were served in February and March 2004, after their direct appeals had been exhausted. They had been on probation, but the jail portion of their sentences were stayed while their appeals were pending. Lead investigator for the Fingerlakes SPCA had been Thomas Adessa. The lead prosecutor in the case was Assistant DA Diane M. Adsit, of the Cayuga County District Attorney's Office. The appeals were successfully argued on behalf of the District Attorney's Office by Assistant DA Christopher T. Valdina.
Defense attorneys at trial were William Montgomery, of Glens Falls, NY and John Hogan, of Saratoga Springs, NY. The Appeals on behalf of the defendants were filed and argued by Bjorn Holubar, of New York City.
Unindicted Gilfus family members and others who claim to have an interest in the animals that were seized in this matter, have filed civil lawsuits in Federal Court in the Northern District of NY against the lead investigator of the Fingerlakes SPCA, the District Attorney of Cayuga County and the Assistant DA who prosecuted the case, the Cayuga County Sheriff and the Deputies who were present at the time of the seizure of the animals pursuant to a search warrant. That civil case in federal court is in the early stages of discovery. Motions to dismiss are pending.
It is important to note that the family here had been under investigation for more than 18 months prior to the seizure of the animals. Richard Gilfus Sr. had been arrested for cruelty to animals in November 2000 At the time of that first investigation, two horses were found starving and near death, with hooves so long that the horses could barely walk. Those two horses had to be euthanized that day. In April 2001, Mr. Gilfus was granted an adjournment in contemplation of dismissal upon specific terms that included improving the living conditions of the animals, feeding and watering them properly, and reducing the number of animals at the farm. Mr. Gilfus did not comply with that order, allegedly because his wife, Patricia refused to cooperate, and the above action, charges and proceedings were commenced against the family members involved in the business of breeding and caring for the animals. A search and seizure warrant was issued by the local town justice in November of 2001, based upon the sworn affidavits of the lead SPCA investigator and three staff members of the Humane Society at Lollypop Farms, who had all observed the horrible conditions of the animals during the summer and fall of 2001.
The nature of the neglect and cruelty included failure to provide adequate housing, failure to provide sufficient food, failure to provide an adequate worming program, failure to provide clean or dry housing (manure and trash piled up, water accumulating in pens) and failure to provide hoof and foot care to the animals. Some horses had as much as three years of growth and suffered from severe hoof problems, including abscesses and severe cracks up to the coronet bands. Many of the horses had never been socialized, making it dangerous to even handle them. One goat was found starved to death in a dark barn basement that was filled with more than 100 goats and sheep of all sizes, ages and breeds, where survival of the fittest seemed to be the policy when it came to feeding time. Another goat and one sheep were near death and were saved by the heroic efforts of the staff at Lollypop Farms. There was no separation of males from females in any category of animals and the breeding was out of control at the Gilfus farm. Several different breeds and sizes of horses were kept together in fields and bred freely. Most of the female animals seized were pregnant. Neighborhood MapFor more information about the Interactive Animal Cruelty Maps, see the map notes.
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