Posted on 06/23/2002 6:00:20 AM PDT by Bowana
Pit bull owner gets 2-5
BY LARA BRICKER
lbricker@seacoastonline.com
STRATHAM - The Newton man who trained 43 pit bulls to fight each other will serve between two and five years in state prison, as part of a plea deal he struck with prosecutors Tuesday morning.
The case of Christopher DeVito marks the first time in the state that someone has been convicted of training animals to fight, according to Rockingham County Attorney James Reams.
"This is an unprecedented sentence," Reams said. "I think we sent a strong indication to people that this is unacceptable conduct in New Hampshire."
DeVito, 34, of 37 Williamine Drive, exhibited little emotion as he said the word "guilty" 23 times when asked how he pleaded to the animal cruelty charges. He arrived in court cleanly shaven, clad in a prison-issued orange jumpsuit and tan plastic sandals. He had no friends or family in the courtroom.
The remaining 15 animal cruelty charges against DeVito were dropped by prosecutors as part of the negotiated deal.
DeVito will have to pay the town of Newton $63,000 restitution for the care of the 43 pit bulls and he will not be allowed to own any animals again.
On each of the 22 other charges to which he pleaded guilty, he was sentenced to two to four years in prison, with the jail time on those charges all suspended. He will have to be on probation for three years after his release from prison.
Both sides had agreed to a one- to three-year state prison sentence before the plea hearing Wednesday. When the proposed deal was announced just after 10 a.m. to Superior Court Judge Gillian Abramson, the judge called the both attorneys in to chambers.
Neither DeVito's attorney, Michael Natola, nor prosecutor Reams would comment on whether the judge found the proposed jail sentence too lenient.
For the next two hours, Natola trekked between Reams - outside the courtroom - and DeVito - in a holding cell in the basement of the court - for further negotiations.
The case went back before Judge Abramson at 12:15 p.m., when it was announced that the parties had agreed to the two- to five-year sentence.
Attorney Natola would not say what precipitated the plea deal or why the deal was made at this time. DeVito had been slated to go to trial in September.
"This case was resolved as many cases are, by hard negotiations," Natola said. "What it had to do with was his conserving resources; the timing was right."
DeVito has been in the Rockingham County Jail since his arrest on Jan. 15, when police raided his home and seized the 43 pit bulls. The dogs were housed in a Quonset hut in the woods behind his home and some bore battle scars that authorities believe came from staged dog fights. One dog was missing a portion of its tongue, while another had two broken legs.
Police found dog treadmills, a blood-stained fighting pit, steroids and other equipment consistent with training dogs to fight on the property. The dogs were euthanized in May after it was determined that they had been trained to fight and could not be rehabilitated and placed in homes.
Since then, federal authorities have alleged that DeVito was involved in large-scale drug trafficking and money laundering. Federal prosecutors have moved to seize DeVito's property in Newton, a host of vehicles and equipment, a condominium in Florida and a bank account in Texas. They allege the property was all purchased with drug money. His wife Lina, who has since moved to a southern state to be with her family, is also named in the federal forfeiture case. Natola would not say where Lina DeVito is now living.
Restitution money
Prosecutors are hoping that some of the $291,000 in cash seized from DeVito's bedroom during the January raid, will be used to pay restitution to the town of Newton.
The town incurred $63,000 in bills for the care of the 43 pit bulls. The money has been seized by the federal government as part of the drug forfeiture case. Local authorities point out the federal case would not have transpired if it were not for the January raid on DeVito's by local police.
"Those discussions are ongoing and I'm hoping they will be successful," Reams said of seeking restitution the drug forfeiture money.
Newton Police Chief Richard Labell, whose department headed up the investigation that led to the January raid, said he is pleased that the town will be repaid for caring for the dogs. As a precaution, the chief said, he has asked the town to place a lien on DeVito's property, in case the money seized by the federal government does not make its way to the town.
Fighting animal cruelty
Lisa Dennison, executive director of the New Hampshire Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, one of the lead animal welfare agencies involved with the case, said she was glad DeVito will have to serve time in state prison.
Dennison said it was the first time she could recall that an animal cruelty case resulted in a state prison sentence. Reams agreed, pointing out that a recent case in Rockingham County, in which a horse trainer whipped his horse repeatedly in front of people, only landed the man in jail for seven days.
Both Reams and Dennison said the DeVito case points to the need for stiffer penalties for animal abusers. Currently, cruelty to animals is a misdemeanor charge in New Hampshire. In the DeVito case, prosecutors indicted him on felony level charges, as training animals to fight is a felony.
"The conduct, we felt, was atrocious and we wanted to use the strongest possible statutes (to charge DeVito)," Reams said.
Natola said he takes offense with DeVito being referred to as a member of a dog-fighting ring. "Don't assume he was part of a dog-fighting ring at all," he said, adding that his client plead guilty to training dogs to fight, not being part of a "ring" or network of other dog fighters.
I hope the town is listening and does as the chief suggests! Make sure to get a lien on that property!
When the Feds get involved, the little town of Newton could get lost in the shuffle!
Something that I don't understand is why this guy gets jail time for training dogs to fight while animal abusers who let their animals go hungry living in disgusting conditions get off with only fines?
What's the difference? Was it because this case involved dog fighting? Did these animals suffer any more than those being starved and neglected?
But your comment on jailing animal abusers, I do agree with!
Not every person who left an animal in a car or let one ride in the bed of a pick up, but the one's who totally abuse and neglect them!
What's the difference? Was it because this case involved dog fighting? Did these animals suffer any more than those being starved and neglected? I watch the show, animal precinct and see alot of people who should do some jail time.
You do not know that an animal suffers. There is no evil greater than that evil that places any living creature above human beings, and there is something basically obscene about the two-wrongs-make-a-right visciousness of those who sadistically enjoy human suffering.
Anyone who places the supposed suffering of any animal, or even all the animals in the world above the possible discomfort of even one human being is a dangerous and immoral person.
"The animals have no purpose except those which man have given them, and the only purpose anything can have is the pleasure of man. Animals are good only for whatever men choose to use them for, for work or petting, food or betting, to study, or to shoot.
"There is a human sickness that causes some men to enjoy the suffering of other creatures. The milder form of this sickness enjoys the suffering of animals. As digusting as this sickness is, it is no one elses business. The more severe form of this sickness causes men to enjoy the suffering of other men. This form must not be tolerated."
JS
Not to humans, or the morally decent.
JS
Try the HSUS website. They love to further that kind of propaganda.
I think it's called "First Strike".
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