Six men were charged Monday for their roles in a Rhode Island cockfighting operation with each facing up to five years in prison. File Photo by St. Louis Circuit Attorney’s Office/Wikimedia Commons
Sept. 17 (UPI) — Six men were arraigned and charged with violations of the Animal Welfare Act in the U.S. District of Rhode Island Monday in Providence.
The six defendants are charged with up to five counts each for their roles in a March 5, 2022, cockfight allegedly held at the Providence home of defendant Miguel Delgado, 73, and at other times, the Dept. of Justice announced Tuesday.
The DOJ defines cockfighting a “contest in which a person attached 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.”
The roosters fight by flapping their wings and jumping while stabbing and cutting each other with the weapons affixed to their legs until one dies or otherwise quits the fight. Both birds often die from their injuries.
The DOJ says Delgado hosted a series of cockfights called “derbies” at his home and is charged with sponsoring and exhibiting roosters in an animal fighting venture on several dates, buying and transporting sharp instruments called “gaffs” used in cockfights and illegally possessing roosters for use in an animal-fighting venture.
Rhode Island residents Onill Vasquez Lozada, 39, and Antonio Ledee Rivera are charged with unlawfully possessing roosters in April 2021 for use in an animal fighting venture and sponsoring and exhibiting roosters during the March 2022 derby at Delgado’s home.
Rivera also is charged with violations during an earlier cockfighting event at Delgado’s home.
Massachusetts resident Germidez Kingsley Jamie, 31; Jose Rivera, 67; and Luis Castillo, 35, are charged with sponsoring and exhibiting roosters at an animal fighting venture during the March 2022 derby.
Jamie and Jose Rivera also are charged with one count each for allegedly buying and transporting gaffs for use in an animal fighting venture.
If convicted, each defendant faces up to five years in federal prison.
Several federal and state law enforcement agencies investigated the cases the respective defendants.
A federal grand jury indicted the six defendants last week.
Seven members of a family in Alabama were convicted of similar charges in 2022 for their roles in an Alabama cockfighting ring.
Riverside County (Calif.) Sheriff’s deputies in August 2022 recovered 143 caged roosters that had to be euthanized after the deputies stopped a large cockfighting event in Jurupa Valley.
About 200 people attended the event, but most of them fled with the police arrived.
PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WJAR) — Former Rhode Island House Speaker Joseph Shekarchi loses an attempt to stop an ethics complaint against his bid for a seat on the state Supreme Court.
The state Ethics Commission voted Tuesday to deny Shekarchi’s motion to dismiss the complaint filed in May.
The Ethics Commission voted June 2 to further investigate the complaint.
The question is whether Shekarchi’s attempt for a lifetime spot on the bench violates Rhode Island’s anti-corruption revolving door law.
The law prevents sitting lawmakers from taking most other state jobs for at least a year after leaving office.
Shekarchi resigned as House Speaker on May 8 to seek nomination to the Supreme Court.
He kept his House seat.
That same day, Roger Williams University law professor Michael Yelnosky filed an ethics complaint.
Shekarchi argues a Supreme Court seat is an exemption from the revolving door law, like other constitutional offices including governor.
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The Ethics Commission’s prosecutor argues the high court seat is not exempt.
The Rhode Island Lottery offers multiple draw games for those aiming to win big.
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17-19-21-45-48, Powerball: 13, Power Play: 2
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Midday: 7-0-8-0
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03-19-29-33-38, Extra: 18
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07-08-20-24-42, Bonus: 05
Check Millionaire for Life payouts and previous drawings here.
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This results page was generated automatically using information from TinBu and a template written and reviewed by a Rhode Island editor. You can send feedback using this form.
“Many people said it wouldn’t be done or couldn’t be done, and today we are here not only to say it’s getting done, but the funding is secure, and the construction of this infrastructure will begin within the next two months,” Grebien said.
Grebien anticipates the eastern side of the development will be fully built within three to four years, he said.
The work marks a step forward for the project, which had been burdened by persistent inflation in recent years. Rising costs led to a higher price tag than initially anticipated for the complex’s soccer and live entertainment stadium, the project’s first phase. The project relied on public bonds that are set to cost taxpayers more than $130 million over the next three decades.
State officials had originally said its financial support would pay for the stadium and other work around it, but with the difficult economic climate, the state later shifted nearly all of its financial backing to the stadium itself. Still, developer Fortuitous Partners has long said it will see through the rest of the public-private partnership, including hundreds of units of new housing.
“We’ve worked very hard over the last couple years to smooth over obstacles big and small to get us here,” Pawtucket City Council President Terrence Mercer said.
The next phase of the development will focus on a more than 10-acre swath of land along the eastern shore of the Seekonk River, across the water from the stadium, Grebien said. There, development firm Pennrose plans to construct more than 70 units of affordable housing, while Wood Partners plans to build 325 market-rate units, he said.
“The financial stack is there,” Grebien said. “They’re ready to move …. They needed to see the stadium first to make sure it was that successful.”
The stadium has welcomed nearly 250,000 people since it opened in spring 2025, according to Dan Kroeber, managing partner at Fortuitous Partners.
“The evolution of this city, the evolution of Tidewater Landing is really just beginning,” Kroeber said.
For now, the city will build out stormwater infrastructure for that area, as well as “new sections of the public riverwalk, landscaping, lighting, and expanded public recreation spaces,” officials said. Pawtucket will also build a pedestrian bridge to link the development across the river.
“You’ve got the Seekonk River being activated, public and private investment, bringing new pedestrian connections, open space, and critical infrastructure down here — all the ingredients that we need to create a great neighborhood in this area,” said Quinlan Locke, vice president of development at Wood Partners.
According to Grebien, additional housing on the western side of the river, in what is now an unpaved parking lot just north of the stadium, will be built in a future phase. He said about 300 additional units are anticipated on that side of the river.
“Over the next four to five years, you’ll start seeing development on this side, if not sooner, because I think the market will push it,” he said.
Christopher Gavin can be reached at christopher.gavin@globe.com.
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