A Riverside County man pleaded guilty today in downtown Los Angeles to a federal charge for hosting illegal San Bernardino County cockfights in which owners paid $1,000 to register roosters expected to fight to the death while spectators gambled on the bloody results.
Isidro Chaparro Sanchez, 59, of Corona, entered a plea to one count of conspiracy to sponsor and exhibit roosters in an animal fighting venture, a felony carrying a possible sentence of up to five years imprisonment, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
U.S. District Judge R. Gary Klausner set sentencing for July 17.
According to federal prosecutors, Sanchez conspired with four others to produce more than a dozen cockfighting events on Sundays at a home on Duffy Street in Muscoy last year. The location included a cockfighting ring with seating and bars serving tacos and alcoholic drinks.
Prosecutors say attendees parked — at the cost of $20 — at a different location nearly 1 mile away from the event location. They were then shuttled to the cockfighting location, where they paid $40 to enter the arena where the fights took place. Attendees could also place bets on the cockfights and participate in a raffle.
A team registering four roosters would pay an entry fee of $1,000. One of the co-defendants would collect the money, register the team’s roosters for battle, and record the weights of the roosters, court papers show.
Attendees, including those who had registered their roosters, would place bets with bookmakers who collected the cash, Sanchez’s plea agreement filed in Los Angeles federal court says.
The blood sport on Duffy Street ended on Aug. 4, 2024, shortly after the arrival of almost 60 patrons, some carrying roosters. Before the first bout, special agents with the FBI armed with a search warrant raided the place.
Items seized included roughly $9,000 in cash, 50 to 100 sharp instruments or “gaffs” — curved metal spurs or blades that are attached to a rooster’s leg prior to a fight — and various types of steroids. In addition, about 200 birds, of which more than 150 were deemed to be fighting roosters by a local animal control agency, were recovered, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
The four co-defendants currently face trial in June.
Cockfighting is a contest in which a person attaches a knife, gaff or other sharp instrument to the leg of a “gamecock” or rooster and then places the bird a few inches away from a similarly armed rooster. This results in a violent fight during which the roosters flap their wings and jump while stabbing each other with the weapons that are fastened to their legs. A cockfight ends when one rooster is dead or refuses to continue to fight. Usually, one or both roosters die after a fight, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.