Man Pleads Guilty to Animal Fighting

BUFFALO, NY—U.S. Attorney William J. Hochul, Jr. announced today that Edward Bishop, 49, of Buffalo, New York, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Court Chief Judge William M. Skretny to a felony charge of sponsoring an animal in an animal fighting venture. It carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a fine of $250,000.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Aaron J. Mango, who handled the case, stated that Bishop was convicted of sponsoring and exhibiting an animal in an animal fighting venture for the purposes of sport, wagering, and entertainment. The defendant specifically entered a dog he owned into a dog fight, wagering approximately $4,000 on the results. This case is related to the recent conviction of Leon Nelson who was sentenced to a year and a day in prison on June 25th.

“No civilized society should tolerate the type of gratuitous cruelty to animals that dog fighting represents. To think that someone would encourage a dog to hurt another for the sole purpose of making a bet really boggles the mind,” said U.S. Attorney Hochul.

The plea was the culmination of an investigation on the part of special agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, under the direction of Special Agent-In-Charge James H. Robertson.

Sentencing is scheduled for Oct. 19, 2010 at 9:00 a.m. in Buffalo, New York, in front of Judge Skretny.