The Laramie County District Attorney's Office charged Louisa G. Carlos and Luis H. Carlos-Garcia on Tuesday with cruelty to animals-fighting. The crime is punishable by up to two years in prison and up to a $5,000 fine.
The two originally were charged last week with one count each of misdemeanor cruelty to animals-fighting because of a clerical error in the DA's office's computer system that misclassified the crime as a misdemeanor, District Attorney Jeremiah Sandburg said.
Carlos, 30, was arrested Jan. 14 on a warrant issued in connection with the misdemeanor charge. She was released after an initial appearance Tuesday on her own recognizance and assigned an arraignment date in Laramie County Circuit Court of Feb. 9.
However, the district attorney's office dropped the misdemeanor charges when it filed the felony charges.
A summons will be served on Carlos containing the new charge, since she isn't seen as a flight risk, Sandburg said.
There is a warrant out for Carlos-Garcia's arrest on the felony charge, and Sandburg said officials are actively seeking the public's help in locating him.
Laramie County District Court records show he currently has an outstanding warrant for his arrest in a separate matter.
Carlos-Garcia was sentenced in August 2010 to five years of probation with an underlying prison sentence of two to four years for felony possession of cocaine, according to court records. A warrant is currently out for his arrest for violating that probation by not reporting to the probation and parole office after his sentencing.
Court records also show that Carlos-Garcia was deported to Mexico a month after his sentencing in September 2010.
Working on tips, the sheriff's department on the morning of Dec. 27 executed a search warrant at 1908 County Road 217 in northwestern Laramie County.
Investigators suspected that cockfighting had been going on there. Deputies and Animal Control officers seized 75 roosters, sparring gear and drug paraphernalia typically associated with cockfighting.
The Cheyenne Animal Shelter has control of the birds and will continue to care for them until any court case is resolved.
A few days after the seizure, the animals were taken from the Cheyenne Stockyards to a private ranch.
Carlos and Carlos-Garcia initially were charged with aggravated cruelty to animals under the animal cruelty statute, which appears in Wyoming law under property destruction and defacement.
The law says a person commits aggravated animal cruelty if he or she:
Owns, possesses, keeps or trains fowls or dogs with the intent to allow the dog or fowl to engage in an exhibition of fighting with another dog or fowl; causes or allows any dog or fowl to fight with another dog or fowl for gain; or knowingly permits or promotes those acts.
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| The birds were taken in by a rescue group |
Initial charging documents accused Carlos of unlawfully keeping roosters with the intent to allow them to fight another rooster.
Lead-up to the bust
According to the charging document Carlos initially was arrested on:
Two residents who live in separate houses on County Road 217 contacted the sheriff's department on Dec. 15 to report they suspected their neighbors were involved in cockfighting.
For the past year, they noticed more and more chicken coops being built on the property, but only one rooster was being kept in each coop.
Once, when they were passing the house, they saw chicken coops stacked three high in the large garage with only one rooster in each coop. The stacks went back into the garage as far as they could see.
The witnesses also reported that for the past year they noticed people showing up at their neighbor's house from 4 to 9 almost every Saturday night, and that the traffic had increased in the past few months, with many vehicles having Colorado license plates.
An investigating deputy drove past the house and saw approximately 10 chicken coops that stretched from the large garage structure back toward the main house. Each coop housed only one rooster.
The deputy also saw approximately 20 more coops in the backyard, and the ones he could see only housed one rooster each.
On Dec. 16, the deputy was conducting traffic control on Horse Creek Road and stopped Carlos for speeding.
He issued Carlos a warning, and she asked him to kick her significant other out of her house because she was tired of him yelling at her. She said she thought things would "get ugly" when she broke off the relationship.
The deputy at that time asked if the man was Louis H. Carlos-Garcia, and she confirmed it was.
On Dec. 18, two more people tried to report Carlos-Garcia for cockfighting to the Animal Shelter. They were sent to the sheriff's department to speak with the investigating deputy.
One of them admitted to working for Carlos-Garcia, who reportedly owns a painting company. They said that sometime in October, Carlos-Garcia showed them all of his fighting roosters and even put two of them together to fight.
Carlos-Garcia reportedly bragged about having 300 roosters and tasked employees from his painting company with building all of the chicken coops, according to the witness.
In June, Carlos-Garcia showed one of the witnesses his roosters, and some of them were mangled. At that time, he also let two of the roosters fight until they were bloody.
On Dec. 27, the sheriff's department executed a search warrant at the house that turned up needles, syringes, pharmaceutical-grade injectable vitamin B-12 complex and penicillin, a small hand saw, a file and sparring balls.
Investigators also discovered dried and fresh blood on the roof rafters of the garage, where loose roosters and hens were roosting, according to court documents.
When the investigating deputy spoke with Carlos that day, she insisted she was the sole owner of all the roosters on the property.
(Wyoming Eagle Tribune - Jan 21, 2015)
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