MOBILE, Ala. (WALA) – A Monroeville man who admitted last year that he raised and sold pit bulls for dog fighting will go to prison for two years.
The Monroe County Sheriff’s Office raided a property in 2023 and arrested Gecoby Penn. Deputies seized 38 dogs, 28 of which had injuries or scarring consistent with dog fighting, according to Penn’s written plea agreement. Investigators said they found the dogs tied up outside without shelter or water and temperatures exceeding 100 degrees on that August day.
U.S. District Judge Kristi DuBose sentenced Penn to 21 months on the dog-fighting charge followed by three months for violating his supervised release on a 2016 drug conviction.
Prosecutors wanted a harsher penalty, objecting to the sentenced on “reasonableness” grounds. They called Christopher Horton, a Monroe County sheriff’s deputy assigned to the FBI’s Safe Streets Task Force, to testify as the sentence hearing in an effort to bolster their argument the Penn should get an enhanced penalty as a “leader” of a criminal enterprise.
Horton testified that investigators found a treadmill and other equipment, along with blood that tested positive for canine DNA. Prosecutors offered a number of text messages in which Penn offered advice about dogs and discussed setting up dog fights.
“She look good, just slow as hell,” he wrote in one message, commenting about a dog he was asked to evaluate.
In another message, a man asked Penn to teach him how to read “peds,” which Horton testified referred to dog pedigrees.
In another message, Penn advised not to feed a dog because dogs fight better when they are hungry.
Horton described one of several videos that investigators gathered. He testified that it showed two dogs fighting in a ring.
“Mr. Penn is refereeing and encouraging the dogs to continue fighting,” he testified.
According to court records, veterinarians had to euthanize 22 of the 38 dogs taken by law enforcement officers.
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Source link https://www.fox10tv.com/2025/01/11/monroeville-man-sentenced-2-years-raising-dogs-fighting/
