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Attorneys/Judges
| Judge(s): | Frederick N. Wapner |
CONVICTED: Was justice served?
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Case #14008 Rating: 2.7 out of 5
Tuesday, Jul 1, 2008
County: Los Angeles
Charges: Misdemeanor, Felony CTA
Disposition: Convicted
Defendant/Suspect: Israel Ramirez
Case Updates: 2 update(s) available
A man has been charged on allegations that he ran a cockfighting ring at his South Los Angeles home.
Israel Ramirez, 52, was arrested Tuesday by officers who received a tip that a cockfight was in progress at his home. Ten alleged spectators were also taken into custody.
Officers with the city's animal cruelty task force found a dead rooster, along with two injured birds that had to be euthanized.
They also seized 50 roosters, a betting spreadsheet, identification bracelets, slasher blades and sparring gloves. They also found a blood-splattered pit where the birds fought, prosecutors said.
Ramirez, who is being held on $70,000 bail, is scheduled to be arraigned Thursday on one felony count of cockfighting, two felony counts of animal cruelty and misdemeanor counts of possession of cockfighting paraphernalia and possession of birds with the intent to fight, the district attorney's office said.
He faces up to five years in prison if convicted of all counts.
Case Updates
A South Los Angeles man convicted of running a cockfighting ring at his home was sentenced Wednesday to 360 days in jail, authorities said.
Israel Ramirez, 53, was also ordered by Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Frederick N. Wapner to attend one year of animal cruelty classes and could face an additional two years in prison if he violates the terms of his probation, said Deputy Dist. Atty. Deborah Knaan.
Ramirez was arrested in June after Los Angeles police said they broke up a cockfight at his home on 108th Street, where officers arrested 10 spectators along with Ramirez and seized 50 roosters. Police found a blood-spattered fighting pit at the home.
Ramirez told police he held fights at his home about once a month and charged spectators $20 to attend, authorities said. Ramirez, who had previously been convicted of misdemeanor cockfighting, pleaded guilty to felony charges of animal cruelty and cockfighting. |
Source: Los Angeles Times - Jan 8, 2009
Update posted on Jan 8, 2009 - 8:36AM |
Investigators have uncovered a cockfighting ring in which the birds may have been shot-up with performance enhancing drugs. It's called a blood sport for a reason. Roosters are equipped with knives to their legs to slash each other up until one wins, and one doesn't.
"These are dead birds. If the bird is a loser of the fight and actually dies, the fights continue with other birds there. So, the dead birds are discarded," according to Los Angeles Police Lt. Tony Lomedico of the Animal Cruely Task Force.
Though you may associate cockfighting with other countries, it's actually happening right here in the Southland. In fact, just last week, investigators served a search warrant on a home in South Central Los Angeles.
When they got behind the home's fence, they found more than one hundred roosters, vitamin supplements, syringes and even steroids.
Because people are gambling with big money on these fights, participants are juicing up their roosters.
"The sad thing about it is that it's cruel to the animals first of all, and these syringes are left on chairs, tables, and in backyards where children are playing" Lomedico says.
Lomedico says children are sometimes also recruited to abuse the animals. For example, the fleshy parts of the roosters, both on the top of their head and under their chin, are cut off for the fights.
"They literally will remove these things, while the animal is not under any kind of anesthetic. They'll actually cut it off with a pair of scissors or a razor blade. We've come across kids, where their job was to do that in fact," according to Lomedico.
For first time offenders, the charge for cockfighting is only a misdemeanor. But, for the first time this week, L.A. County charged a defendant with a felony. That's because the suspect had at least one prior offense. |
Source: KTLA - July 4, 2008
Update posted on Jul 6, 2008 - 2:13PM |
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