Jail For Cockfighting

By KRWG News

Las Cruces – A 46-year-old Dona Ana County man has been sentenced to eight days in jail and fines after being found guilty of cockfighting.

An animal control official in Dona Ana County says Magistrate Oscar Frietze convicted Ramon Torres of the petty misdemeanor charge after a 3 -hour trial Tuesday.

New Mexico banned cockfighting two years ago.

The director of animal control for the Dona Ana County Sheriff's Department, Capt. Craig Childress, says the magistrate sentenced Torres to 180 days but suspended 172 days and fined him $200.

Torres was among five people charged in April after authorities Dona Ana County raids in which officials seized about 600 birds.

Authorities say Torres admitted to training and equipping roosters for fighting and selling fighting roosters.

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Information from: The Santa Fe New Mexican, http://www.sfnewmexican.com

Copyright 2009 The Associated Press.