Five Guilty Pleas in Dog Fighting Conspiracy

Stephen R. Wigginton, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Illinois, announced today that during the week of September 13, 2010, five co-defendants entered pleas of guilty in U.S. District Court in East St. Louis, for their roles in a dog fighting conspiracy. BRENT CASH, age 31, of Eldon, Missouri, pled guilty on September 15, and is currently scheduled to be sentenced on January 3, 2011. DARRYL MADISON, age 28, of St. Louis, Missouri, and TERRILL CLARK, age 33, of Lithonia, Georgia, pled guilty on September 16, and are scheduled to be sentenced on January 4, 2011. THADIUS PAGE, age 33, of Fairview Heights, Illinois, and MICHAEL WILLIAMS, age 29, of Red Bud, Illinois, entered pleas of guilty on September 17, and are scheduled to be sentenced on January 5, 2011.

Each defendant pled guilty to an indictment charging him with conspiracy to commit unlawful activities of dog fighting. The conspiracy operated between November 18, 2008, and, April 18, 2009, in St. Clair County, Illinois.

Each defendant faces a maximum penalty of five years in prison, a fine of up to $250,000, and three years of supervised release to follow any term of imprisonment.

Headed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Office of Inspector General, this dog fighting investigation is the latest in a series of major animal fighting investigations conducted throughout the country since the passage of the Animal Fighting Prohibition Enforcement Act, signed into law in May 2007. Participating in the investigation were the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Office of the Inspector General, the Missouri State Highway Patrol, the Humane Society of Missouri, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The case is assigned to Assistant United States Attorneys Jennifer Hudson and Mike Thompson for prosecution.