Five people were charged on allegations of animal cruelty Aug. 4 after police raided a cockfighting event in San Bernardino, the United States Attorney’s Office announced Aug. 5.
Prosecutors allege the group held fights every Sunday from January to August, with as many as 100 attendees for a $60 entry fee, and that the events included betting and a raffle.
Cockfighters could enter their own roosters to fight at the cost of $1,000 for four roosters. The roosters’ legs would be fitted with curved blades 1.5 inches long, according to the Attorney’s Office
Isidro Chaparro Sanchez, 59, of Corona; Luis Octavio Angulo, 61, of Rialto; Sergio Jimenez Maldonado, 51, of San Bernardino; and Eva Anilu Pastor Uriostegui, 53, of Moreno Valley were arrested in Muscoy, an unincorporated region of San Bernardino County across the I-215 from California State University, San Bernardino.
They were charged with “aiding, abetting, inducing, and willfully causing another person to sponsor and exhibit an animal in an animal fighting venture.”
If convicted, the maximum sentence would be for five years imprisonment.
Police are looking for Cirilo Esquivel Alcantar, 56, of San Bernardino, who is charged in absentia, and whom they allege collaborated in holding the events.
