MONTGOMERY, Alabama––Cockfighters and gamefowl breeders Brent Easterling, William Easterling, and five other members of their family on August 11, 2022 pleaded guilty to federal and state of Alabama charges filed in 2021 as “conspiracy to violate federal anti-animal fighting laws, including operating fighting pits on their properties, possessing thousands of fighting animals, transporting those animals across the globe for fighting, and trafficking in cockfighting implements,” summarized Animal Wellness Action spokesperson Marty Irby in a media release urging that the Easterlings receive “prison time and six-figure fines” at their forthcoming sentencing hearings.
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You can read the actual plea deals here:
You can read the full story here: Two plead guilty in Laurel County cock fighting case
From the May 11, 2022 The Sentinel Echo newspaper:
Two of the nine people named in a federal indictment involving a cock fighting ring have pleaded guilty to their charges.
Rickie D. Johnson, 55, made a guilty plea on May 3 to conspire against the United States of America by operating a cock fighting ring known as Bald Rock Chicken Pit off Loretta Lane on property owned by Harold "Fuzzy" Hale, who was also named in the indictment.
There is momentous news in our Crush Cockfighting campaign. On Saturday, February 26, 2022, federal agents and Kentucky State Police descended on a cockfight near Whitesburg, Kentucky. There were lots of various law enforcement vehicles, a helicopter, 100+ law enforcement officers - a full-blown federal bust.
You can read several news stories and the actual indictments below.