Friday, November 27, 2015

Convicted drug dealer Christopher Pope pleads guilty, forfeits dogs

KENTUCKY -- With a trial looming in two days, Christopher Pope pleaded guilty Wednesday to 12 misdemeanor counts of violating a city ordinance requiring dogs be kept in humane conditions.

As part of the plea deal, Pope relinquished control of 11 dogs that have been held at the Boyle County Animal Shelter since July, freeing them to be adopted.

Pope also agreed to pay $6,700 in restitution, fines and court costs, and serve 90 days in jail in exchange for dismissal of 16 violations of county and planning and zoning ordinances, and forgiveness of about $9,000 he owes the animal shelter for housing his dogs for three and a half months.


“I’m pleased with the outcome,” said Dan Turcea, director of the animal shelter.

Boyle County Attorney Richard Campbell and defense attorney Cullen Gault went back and forth much of Wednesday afternoon, leaving the Boyle District Courtroom on six different occasions to negotiate in the hallway. Each time Gault would return to discuss the latest offer with Pope.

“I’m satisfied,” Campbell said afterward. “The key was forfeiture of the dogs. He pled guilty to the biggest of the charges, which are Class A misdemeanors. The other charges were just violations.”

Authorities seized 10 Presa Canarios and a Husky belonging to Pope during a raid on a home on Old Shakertown Road in July, leading to the charges.

Wednesday’s plea deal wraps up Pope’s cases in Boyle District Court, where he has been a regular on the docket since June for charges related to his care of dogs.

Authorities took control of seven other Presa Canarios in June after a fire at a home on John Bowling Court where Pope kept them. Those dogs were later released back into Pope’s care and were moved to a kennel in Lincoln County from which they escaped and severely mauled a woman who lived nearby.


As part of Wednesday’s agreement, Pope pleaded guilty to violating conditions of his parole from the June case when he pleaded guilty to 12 counts of mistreatment of animals. That deal required him to pay $6,000 in restitution and stay out of trouble for a year, both of which he failed to do.

Judge Jeff Dotson ordered Pope to pay the remaining $3,000 in restitution from that case, plus $1,743 in fines and costs. An additional $2,000 in restitution was part of Wednesday’s deal. He has to repay all the money within a year of being released from prison.

Hashing out an agreement over the money Pope would have to repay took up much of Wednesday’s negotiations with Gault, Campbell said.


“What we had difficulty with was the money, how much and when it would be paid,” he said.

Pope is still under indictment in Boyle Circuit Court on a charge of being a convicted felon in possession of a handgun but received a plea offer in that case as part of Wednesday’s dealings.

Commonwealth Attorney Richie Bottoms said Pope would serve two years in prison and forfeit $4,000 in cash recovered in the raid on the Old Shakertown Road home in exchange for pleading guilty to the handgun charge.

“He could still change his mind on this offer,” Bottoms said. “He hasn’t accepted it yet.”

If Pope agrees to that deal, Campbell said a portion of the forfeited cash would likely go to the animal shelter to help pay Pope’s bill there, which is more than $10,000.

Pope still faces misdemeanor charges of animal cruelty and harboring vicious animals in Lincoln County. He pleaded guilty in October in Fayette County to conspiracy to traffic in oxycodone and being a persistent felony offender, and was sentenced to two and a half years in prison.


Judge Dotson set a hearing for next Wednesday in Boyle District Court to determine how Pope’s dogs, now owned by the county, will be dispersed. Turcea said he will meet with officials from the shelter and the Danville-Boyle County Humane Society to come up with a plan for the dogs to present to the judge.

Turcea previously said he hoped the dogs could be released to rescue groups who would then find them homes outside the state.

Why dump your problems on another state? WE DON'T WANT THESE DOGS!

(Central KY News - Nov 20, 2015)

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