Posted on 11/06/2017 11:11:12 AM PST by Behind Liberal Lines
SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- A man accused of being the "coordinator" of a large-scale cock-fighting ring in Herkimer County was in the U.S. illegally, federal officials said.
Radhames Perez, 37, was sentenced to two years in prison today for illegally re-entering the United States. He will likely be deported a second time after serving his prison term.
Perez, who lived in Utica before his arrest, was caught by immigration enforcement officials after the cock-fighting ring he allegedly ran was busted earlier this year.
Perez, who also went by "Cesar" and "Edwin," is a citizen of the Dominican Republic. A Manhattan court convicted him of selling crack cocaine in May 2003, after which he was removed from the U.S. for the first time.
The state attorney general's office said in June that Perez coordinated cock-fights at a property in Frankfort, Herkimer County.
He contacted rooster owners to invite them to bring their animals to the barn, got his girlfriend to charge admission and had his mother cook food to sell, officials said.
Officials said the animals were forced to fight with razors strapped to their feet. Participants made bets between $50 and $800 on which birds would survive.
LOL
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