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.
Awilda Perez Goris was arrested shortly after 2 p.m. Tuesday on charges of obtaining more than $10,000 under false pretenses and accessing a computer for fraudulent purposes, the Rhode Island State Police said in a media release.
Perez Goris, a resident of Uxbridge, was processed at the Wickford Barracks, arraigned and issued a notice to appear in court, according to the release.
Rhode Island composers have until August 10 to apply for $30,000 fellowships from the Rhode Island Foundation, with three grants available to emerging and mid-career musicians looking to advance their work.
The grants come through the Foundation’s Robert and Margaret MacColl Johnson Fellowship Fund and are unrestricted — meaning recipients can use the money however best serves their artistic growth, whether that’s creating new work, purchasing equipment, traveling, researching, or training in new technologies and techniques.
Applicants must have lived in Rhode Island for at least 12 months before the deadline. Current high school and college students, graduate students enrolled in degree programs, and composers at advanced levels of career achievement are not eligible. Submissions may be in any genre, including chamber, choral, contemporary, electronic, experimental, jazz, opera, musical theater, symphonic, and world music.
Recipients are selected by a panel of out-of-state industry professionals managed by the Artist Communities Alliance. Previous fellows include cellist Adrienne Taylor, multi-instrumentalist and vocalist Courtney Swain, and electroacoustic composer Kristina Warren.
The MacColl Johnson Fellowships rotate among composers, writers, and visual artists on a three-year cycle; next year’s round will go to writers. The fund was established in 2003 in honor of Rhode Islanders Robert and Margaret MacColl Johnson, both devoted to the arts throughout their lives.
More information and applications are at artistcommunities.org.
LINCOLN, R.I. (WPRI) — First responders in Lincoln conducted an extensive search of the waters at Lincoln Woods Beach Sunday evening.
Officials say they received a credible call about a possible drowning. The response caused multiple boats in the water and crews also deployed a drone.
Divers were also seen on the beach and in the water. Multiple departments responded.
The Rhode Island DEM was also on scene.
Access close to the beach was blocked off. Some nearby roads were also blocked off within the park.
After a near four hour search, officials determined there was no one in the water.
Officials stressed the importance of water and swim safety during the summer months.
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