A federal grand jury in Providence has charged six men with taking part in a cockfighting operation in which roosters were stabbed with gaffs, the U.S. Department of Justice announced on Tuesday.
Miguel Delgado, 73, of Providence, was accused of hosting a series of cockfights, known as “derbies,” at his home in March 2022. Delgado is also accused of sponsoring and exhibiting roosters in an animal fighting venture, buying and transporting sharp instruments or “gaffs” for use in the cockfights and unlawfully possessing roosters for use in an animal fighting venture, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said in a statement.
Oill Vasquez Lozada, 39, and Antonio Ledee Rivera, both of Rhode Island, were accused of unlawfully possessing roosters in April 2021 for use in an animal fighting venture and for sponsoring and exhibiting roosters at a derby at Delgado’s home. Rivera was also accused of being involved in an earlier derby at Delgado’s home.
Germidez Kingsley Jamie, 31; Jose Rivera, 67; and Luis Castillo, 35, all residents of Massachusetts, were accused of sponsoring and exhibiting roosters at an animal fighting venture. Jamie and Jose Rivera were also accused of buying and transporting gaffs for use in an animal fighting venture, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.
Cockfights are a sport in which a person attaches a knife, gaff or other sharp instrument to the leg of a “gamecock” or rooster and then places the bird a few inches away from a similarly armed rooster. This results in a fight during which the roosters flap their wings and jump while stabbing each other with the weapons that are fastened to their legs. A cockfight ends when one rooster is dead or refuses to continue to fight. Commonly, one or both roosters die after a fight.
The suspects were charged with violating the Animal Welfare Act, which makes it a crime to engage in animal fighting or to sponsor or exhibit an animal for fighting. The suspects are facing a maximum penalty of five years in federal prison, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.
Generative artificial intelligence (AI) assisted a What’sUpNewp journalist with the reporting included in this story.
