Post by suziriot on Dec 8, 2009 17:00:05 GMT -5
www.ksdk.com/news/local/story.aspx?storyid=191316
Teddy Kiriakidis, Ronald Creach, Michael Morgan, Robert Hackman plead guilty to dog fighting
By Mike Garrity
KSDK -- Four eastern Missouri men have been sentenced for federal crimes involving dog fighting.
The convictions resulted from the largest coordinated multistate raids on dog fighting in U.S. history.
Teddy Kiriakidis, 50, of Leasburg, and Ronald Creach, 34, of Leslie, were sentenced Tuesday to 18 months in federal prison.
Thirty-eight-year-old Michael Morgan of Hannibal and 56-year-old Robert Hackman of Foley each were sentenced to one year in prison.
Each man pleaded guilty to conspiracy.
Hackman and Morgan also pleaded guilty to selling animals for fighting.
Kiriakidis was also fined $2,000 for breeding and training fighting dogs, hosting fights, and participating in the electrocution of a dog.
In July, federal agents arrested 26 people and seized more than 500 dogs in Missouri, Iowa, Illinois, Mississippi, Oklahoma, Nebraska and Texas.
Tuesday morning, Hackman's attorney, Joel Schwartz, argued his client was a dog breeder, who loved and in large part took care of his dogs, but who grew up in a culture where even when he was a child, dog fighting was part of life.
Kiriakidis did publicly apologize in court, saying he was wrong.
The Missouri victims in this case included at least 500 dogs.
180 of them had to be put down because of abuse they sustained
All four eastern Missouri men were given more than what federal sentencing guidelines call for, but they were each given less than the five years in prison, and the $250,000 fines that would have been the maximum sentence.
The Humane Society of Missouri, which has been caring for, and placing the abused animals in new homes, was calling for the maximum sentence.
But following Tuesday's sentencing, the Humane Society of Missouri did say call the judge's decision satisfactory, and a spokeswoman said the organization is hopeful Tuesday's judgment will help to deter future participation in dog fighting and other types of animal abuse.
Teddy Kiriakidis, Ronald Creach, Michael Morgan, Robert Hackman plead guilty to dog fighting
By Mike Garrity
KSDK -- Four eastern Missouri men have been sentenced for federal crimes involving dog fighting.
The convictions resulted from the largest coordinated multistate raids on dog fighting in U.S. history.
Teddy Kiriakidis, 50, of Leasburg, and Ronald Creach, 34, of Leslie, were sentenced Tuesday to 18 months in federal prison.
Thirty-eight-year-old Michael Morgan of Hannibal and 56-year-old Robert Hackman of Foley each were sentenced to one year in prison.
Each man pleaded guilty to conspiracy.
Hackman and Morgan also pleaded guilty to selling animals for fighting.
Kiriakidis was also fined $2,000 for breeding and training fighting dogs, hosting fights, and participating in the electrocution of a dog.
In July, federal agents arrested 26 people and seized more than 500 dogs in Missouri, Iowa, Illinois, Mississippi, Oklahoma, Nebraska and Texas.
Tuesday morning, Hackman's attorney, Joel Schwartz, argued his client was a dog breeder, who loved and in large part took care of his dogs, but who grew up in a culture where even when he was a child, dog fighting was part of life.
Kiriakidis did publicly apologize in court, saying he was wrong.
The Missouri victims in this case included at least 500 dogs.
180 of them had to be put down because of abuse they sustained
All four eastern Missouri men were given more than what federal sentencing guidelines call for, but they were each given less than the five years in prison, and the $250,000 fines that would have been the maximum sentence.
The Humane Society of Missouri, which has been caring for, and placing the abused animals in new homes, was calling for the maximum sentence.
But following Tuesday's sentencing, the Humane Society of Missouri did say call the judge's decision satisfactory, and a spokeswoman said the organization is hopeful Tuesday's judgment will help to deter future participation in dog fighting and other types of animal abuse.