Four people have been taken into custody and charged in connection with a cockfighting operation in San Bernardino County, federal authorities announced Monday.
The arrests, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Central District of California Office, occurred Sunday at an event being held in Muscoy, a city about six miles north of San Bernardino.
Prosecutors say at the events, which were held on Sundays during “cockfighting season,” which generally ran from January to August, participants paid $1,000 to enter four roosters into fights, with several fights occurring during the event.
“Before the fights, a sharp blade, known as a ‘gaff’ and usually curved and approximately 1.5 inches in length, was often attached to each rooster’s leg, the release noted. “At times, the fights ended in the death of one or both roosters.”
In addition to those entering animals into the fights, authorities said that as many as 100 spectators would attend the events.
For $20, attendees would park at a location nearly a mile from the fighting venue and were then shuttled to the cockfighting location, where for another $40 they were allowed to enter the arena area and couple place bets on the fights and participate in a raffle.
The four suspects arrested included:
- 59-year-old Corona resident Isidro Chaparro Sanchez
- 61-year-old Rialto resident Luis Octavio
- 51-year-old San Bernardino resident Sergio Jimenez Maldonado
- 53-year-old Moreno Valley resident Eva Anilu Pastor Uriostegui
All four of the defendants, as well as another man identified as 56-year-old San Bernardino resident Cirilo Esquivel Alcantar who law enforcement officials are looking for, were charged with aiding, abetting, inducing and willfully causing another person to sponsor and exhibit an animal in an animal fighting venture.
The four suspects arrested appeared in the United States District Court in Riverside today.
If convicted as charged, the defendants would each face a maximum sentence of five years in federal prison.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation is continuing to investigate the case.