A lot has happened dogfighting-wise since my last update:
Last week, Maryland dogfighter Laron Mecco "Frog" West was stabbed to death outside an apartment building. In app messages, West famously said he enjoyed killing pitbulls that lost fights.
“I love to throw the motherfuckers over the bridge into the water,” he said.
West would've been sentenced to federal prison next Tuesday.
Georgia senators recently voted to increase dogfighting penalties. "Senate Bill 68, sponsored by Sen. Rick Williams (R - Milledgeville), would allow prosecutors to go after repeat dogfighting organizers using the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations, or RICO, statute," Georgia Public Broadcasting reported. These maps show recent dogfighting arrests in Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Florida, but Sen. Kim Jackson (D - Stone Mountain) questioned how common it is for dogfighters to fight dogs once they get out of prison. This petition answers that question, but I'll reiterate:
Dogfighters don't stop fighting dogs (and, thus, killing cats, kittens, rabbits and other animals) unless they're in prison.
Cleveland, Ohio, dogfighter Angelo McCoy was first arrested for dogfighting during a November 2014 raid in Akron. "A concession stand outside sold hot dogs and refreshments," cleveland.com reported. "After police raided the home Saturday using an armored truck, they found about $30,000 scattered through the yard and eight pit bulls — six ready to fight and two bloodied dogs inside the ring." This raid involved nearly "100 Akron police officers, two SWAT teams and Summit County Sheriff's deputies" and resulted in the arrest of 47 people from around Ohio, Indiana, Pennsylvania, North Carolina and California.
McCoy, who ran from officers that night, was sentenced to a year of probation rather than prison.
While McCoy was on probation, he was busted for dogfighting again -- in June 2015. "He was sentenced to 10 months in prison," cleveland.com reported.
Both judges told McCoy that he wasn't allowed to have more dogs, but when McCoy was busted with "112 grams of heroin, 21 grams of cocaine, more than 400 prescription pills [and] $8,591 cash" during a January 2020 drug investigation, police found 11 injured dogs and one dead dog behind his house. McCoy was arrested for dogfighting a third time and allowed out on $25,000 bond.
In November 2020, while McCoy remained out on bond for his third arrest, I caught someone using Craigslist to collect bait animals for him. Later, I caught them using Craigslist to communicate with each other. Just before Thanksgiving, I realized he had a woman named Celina breeding kittens for him.
- Florida dogfighter Roy Chester Bennett was busted for dogfighting in 1995 and again in 2016;
- Ohio dogfighter Jerry Buchanan was busted for dogfighting in 2004 and again in 2017;
- Georgia dogfighter Willie Dasher was busted for dogfighting in 2004 and again in 2018;
- Louisiana dogfighter Kevin Valentine was busted for dogfighting in 2004, 2006 and 2018;
- Alabama dogfighter Terrance McNeil was busted for dogfighting in 2008 and, like Cleveland dogfighter Angelo McCoy, he was busted again months later while out on bond. He was busted a third time in 2011 and sentenced to 10 years;
- Chicago dogfighter LaRue Jackson, who's also a registered sex offender, was busted for dogfighting in 2008, 2011 and 2015;
- Georgia dogfighter Devechio Rowland was busted for dogfighting in 2010 and again in 2017 (after which he was sentenced to "50 years with 15 to serve," according to WEIS Radio);
- Indiana dogfighter Martin Anderson was busted for dogfighting in 2011 and 2019;
- Pennsylvania dogfighter Dowayne Molina was busted for dogfighting in 2015 and 2018; and
- Massachusetts dogfighter Javier Ruperto was busted for dogfighting in 2014 and 2021.
While Georgia tries to put dogfighters in prison longer, politicians in other parts of the country are trying to let evil people out early -- or keep them out of prison altogether.
- Alabama released over 400 rapists, murderers, wife beaters/killers, pedophiles and other inmates early last month;
- Nebraska wants to put an end to mandatory minimum sentences, saying they put prison guards and other prisoners in danger by removing prisoners' incentive to behave, glossing over the fact the threat of prison didn't prevent those prisoners from committing crimes to begin with; and
- Two Oklahoma senators are trying to decrease sentences for cockfighting. "This is an event that people like. I’m for freedoms," Representative J.J. Humphrey (R-Lane) said.
Many dogfighters, including Florida man Rafael Del Valle Jomarron, fight dogs and roosters. You can often hear roosters crowing in YouTube videos as APBT breeders show off their dogs like used car salesmen. In Alabama, cockfighters get a $50 fine and zero jail time.
Jersey City, New Jersey, started an animal cruelty/dogfighting tip line (201-547-4999 / animalabusetipline@jcnj.org) this month and will be certifying 58 police officers as municipal humane law enforcement officers, but dogfighting cases become federal cases once they cross state lines. Jersey City's only 40 minutes to an hour from Manhattan and the Bronx, where police took 29 dogs from Evans “Hustle” Fuentes, Edward “Big Myke” Johnson and Benito Gittens, and it's a mere hour and a half from Philadelphia, which has a lot of bait dogs that make the news alongside stories like Buddy the cat being mauled by two teens who set down their leashes so their pitbulls could attack him -- but zero recent arrests. It would be wise to report dogfighters to the FBI (https://tips.fbi.gov/), which handles interstate dogfighting cases. In the federal system, dogfighters do not get parole and, with the exception of judges like John M. Campbell in D.C. and Shelly Dick in Louisiana, tend to get lengthy sentences. Thanks to Judge John R. Adams, Akron, Ohio, dogfighter Ronald Smith was sentenced to 10 years in prison last December.
Smith was an obvious friend of Cleveland dogfighter Angelo McCoy -- the focus of this petition. The day I announced Smith's sentence on Reddit, the woman who breeds kittens and collects cats for McCoy posted more kittens on Craigslist for McCoy -- just as she did the day after I warned Cleveland's sub about them.
"Dyou [sic] really think this person is... giving kittens to dogfighters... publicly... to get back at you?" someone asked in Akron's sub. The black cat pictured in this petition update was posted shortly after I took a letter to McCoy's judge and warned the woman who posted the black cat on Craigslist about McCoy and the woman who breeds kittens and collects cats for him. In that photo, they tied the cat's hind legs together so she couldn't protect herself from McCoy's pitbulls. This face is the level of evil we're dealing with in this country and around the world. Please continue to share this petition. Thousands of people are rehoming pets due to inflation and other excuses. Reading this may save a life.