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The Nebraska Humane Society seized four pit bull terriers Thursday from a Tecumseh, Neb., man indicted this week in the largest dogfighting sting in U.S. history.
They did so just hours after a federal judge had denied prosecutors' request to seize the dogs. The animals belong to Julio Reyes, 28, who turned himself in to the Lancaster County Sheriff's Office on Wednesday night.
The dogs were taken from two houses in Tecumseh. One of them is Reyes' and the other is one that he frequents, said Mark Langan, vice president of field operations for the humane society.
“Some of the pit bulls have potential dogfighting scars on them,” Langan said. “They'll be taken back to the humane society and held on the request of the Johnson County attorney, pending the prosecution.”
Reyes was the only Nebraskan indicted this week in the national sting. More than two dozen people in eight states were arrested. More than 350 dogs, mostly pit bulls, were seized in the coordinated raids.
The Nebraska Humane Society, with the help of local law enforcement and the Humane Society of the United States, seized the dogs Thursday afternoon, after Reyesappeared in U.S. District Court in Lincoln for his initial appearance.
Alan Everett, an assistant U.S. attorney, had argued that Reyes' four dogs should be taken into protective custody. John Vanderslice, a federal public defender, disagreed, saying it was inappropriate to take family pets.
Judge Richard Kopf granted Reyes supervised release and allowed him to keep the dogs, but ordered that they be examined. He told Reyes to not use the dogs in unlawful acts.
The seizure later Thursday was a separate affair, said Johnson County Attorney Julie Smith Hogancamp, taken as part of a separate search warrant. The federal judge had ruled that Reyes would not have to forfeit the dogs to be freed, she said.
Reyes, who declined to comment as he left Kopf's courtroom, appears next in federal court July 23 in Kansas City, Mo. Under the terms of his release, Reyes is to remain employed, not drink alcohol, not leave the state without permission and report to federal pre-trial officers.
Reyes was one of seven people indicted by a grand jury in Missouri for alleged involvement in a dogfighting ring that operated near Gilman City.
The indictment alleges that each of the defendants participated in a conspiracy to travel across state lines to sponsor a dog in an animal-fighting venture and to aid in illegal gambling and bookmaking activities. Reyes also is charged with buying, selling, delivering or transporting animals for fighting.
Contact the writer:
444-1127, david.hendee@owh.com
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