A Baton Rouge man was sentenced to a year and a day in prison for owning canines with the intent to use them in a dogfighting business.
Aquintas Kantrell Singleton, 35, pleaded guilty to an Animal Welfare Act violation involving the ownership of 17 dogs for use in an animal fighting operation July 12, according to a Nov. 18 U.S. Department of Justice news release. Singleton received his prison sentence Nov. 17.
“Blood sports, like dogfighting, are federal crimes,” Assistant Attorney General Todd Kim, of the Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division, said in the release. “To set animals against each other for entertainment is cruel and unjust. Anyone who commits these acts should expect to be caught and to serve time in prison.”
Court records report law enforcement officials learned about Singleton's participation in an interstate dog fighting ring in 2017, according to the release. Singleton had many phone conversations with other dogfighters to discuss the outcomes of fights held in Louisiana and Georgia and to talk about bets they would make in upcoming contests, as documented by court-authorized wiretaps.
These discussions included specifics about how to breed, market, house, train and get ready canines for dogfights, the release reported. Law enforcement officials widened their investigation based on these calls and other information.
Additionally, agents investigated the defendant's Baton Rouge home Oct. 24, 2017, and discovered 17 canines that resembled pit bulls with many showing signs of recent or dogfighting-related injuries and scars, according to the release. They were kept apart from one another and either confined in crude cages, restrained with heavy chains and weighted dog collars.
Agents also discovered a file box containing documents for dog registration, breeding records and breed publications, the release reported. Agents also discovered Dexamethasone, a diuretic used to gain the right amount of weight before the dogfights, as well as other dogfighting accessories.
