In a plea bargain worked out between his ambulance-chasing attorney, Eric N. Naiburg, and prosecutors, Desantis was allowed to plead guilty to one count of making a false written statement. After he has served his probation the charge will be reduced to disorderly conduct and he will then pay the fine.
When he was arrested in June of 2006, he was additionally charged with cruelty to animals, possession of stolen property, falsifying records, and criminal mischief. He was released on his own recognizance after pleading not guilty in a Riverhead court on June 13th.
The case began on April 2nd of last year when DeSantis illegally trapped a four-year-old Russian Blue male cat named Coal belonging to his next-door neighbors, Jesse and Regina Fagone. Coal and the family dog, Nala, are pictured below with the Fagones' children, Samantha, 13, and Nicholas, 12.
Through the filing of a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request with the shelter, the Fagones learned of DeSantis' criminal behavior and he was subsequently arrested. For his part, DeSantis has never admitted to any wrongdoing.
With Naiburg serving as his mouthpiece, he claimed that Coal was harassing -- not killing -- birds in his backyard and that as a licensed hunter he had a right to kill him. He also lied through his teeth by arguing that he thought the cat was feral.
DeSantis not only loves killing cats but he also gets a kick out of tormenting the Fagones' children. For instance, as soon as he was released after his arrest he immediately began taunting them by yelling in their direction, "Here, kitty, kitty, kitty."
His attorney was likewise just as remorseless after his victory in court.
"My client made one mistake in his life," Naiburg told Newsday on February 28th. "When he started having problems with that feral cat, he should have dug a hole, broken its neck, and put it in."
Commenting upon his callous endorsement of feline homicide and animal cruelty, Moggies said on its website, "Eric Naiburg should be thrown off the benches ... how an attorney can say this and get away with it is beyond me!" (See www.moggies.co.uk)
Moggies has raised an interesting point. Naiburg's reprehensible comments should be brought to the attention of the New York State Bar Association for disciplinary action. As an officer of the court, he should not be allowed to advocate the killing of innocent animals and the theft of private property. If he were proposing that men and women should be treated in a like-minded manner, his license to practice law surely would be promptly revoked.
DeSantis' conduct in this case is not an isolated incident. Au contraire, like most cat-hating, bird-loving psychopaths, he had made a career out of killing cats.
Through another FOIA request, the Fagones learned that back in 1998 he trapped two more of their cats, Corky, a male, and Grady, a female, and also turned them over to the local shelter to exterminate. He is also suspected in the disappearance of a fourth cat from the Fagone household back in 2002.
More than likely this is only the tip of the proverbial iceberg as far as DeSantis' crimes are concerned in that many other cats from the neighborhood have disappeared without a trace during the past ten years.
In addition to pursuing disciplinary action against Naiburg, the Fagones should also file civil lawsuits against both DeSantis and the Town of Islip Animal Shelter. It should be rather easy to win a hefty judgment against the latter because of its negligence.
More to the point, the Fagones should have their shyster subpoena the records of the shelter in an effort to determine exactly how many cats DeSantis has killed over the years. It is inconceivable that the shelter did not know what he was up to especially since he is not an animal control officer. Since it has been complicit in his crimes, the shelter is therefore liable as well.
As for DeSantis, he is no doubt laughing up his sleeve at the gullibility of the courts. Tragically, he will soon be killing more cats one way or another. People like him never reform; their successes serve only to encourage them to do more evil.
His only discomfort is the pretty penny that he has been forced to fork over to Naiburg to get him out of this jam. It is not anything to gloat about, but it is nonetheless a real pleasure to know that he is squealing like a stuck pig because of the hit that he has taken in the pocketbook. Naiburg, it might be remembered, is the high-powered shyster who represented the so-called Long Island Lolita (Amy Fisher) about fifteen years ago and his services do not come cheap.
Finally, the inaction of cat lovers boggles the mind. Bird-lovers, wildlife proponents, and PETA are committed to ridding the world of all cats and yet just about all cat advocacy groups remain silent in the face of this threat. One has to wonder how many more cats will have to die before they finally locate their tongues.
It is time that all cat lovers woke up and confronted these fascist cat-killers. Remaining silent and turning the other cheek in a misguided hope that these evildoers are going to go away is no longer an option. The time for concerted action is now.
(Cat Defender - March 9, 2007)
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