Fifth Defendant Sentenced in Dog-Fighting Ring
April 18, 2018 10:06 PM

VOA News

FILE – Dogs sit at a home in Auburn, Ala., in this photo provided by the ASPCA. A federal and state investigation into dog fighting and gambling has resulted in the arrest of 12 people from Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi and Texas, Aug. 23, 2013.
FILE – Dogs sit at a home in Auburn, Ala., in this photo provided by the ASPCA. A federal and state investigation into dog fighting and gambling has resulted in the arrest of 12 people from Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi and Texas, Aug. 23, 2013.

A fifth defendant pleaded guilty in federal court Wednesday for his part in a brutal multistate dog-fighting ring.

Mario Atkinson of New Jersey will spend two years in prison and was fined $1,000.

He admitted fighting his dog in Virginia and dumping the dead animal in the garbage after…