Owner of dog-fighting kennel gets 6 years
One of the operators of a Hilltop dog-fighting kennel, in which authorities had to euthanize 31 dogs, was sentenced Friday to six years in prison.
Charles A. Granberry, 41, pleaded guilty in November to conspiring to buy, sell, deliver, train or transport animals for fighting, and also to being a felon in possession of a firearm.
Granberry, of South Hague Avenue, told U.S. District Judge James L. Graham that he had spent one-quarter of his life incarcerated and “I’m getting tired of this.” He said he was ready to kick his alcohol addiction and come out of prison a better person.
A second defendant, Randall J. Frye, 58, of South Wayne Avenue, pleaded guilty in March to the same charges and is awaiting sentencing. Charges against three other defendants were dismissed.
The defendants bred and trained the American pit bull terriers at their homes. The crime is a federal offense because the dogs were sold online to out-of-state buyers. Authorities recovered T-shirts and other items advertising “Mau Mau Kennels.”
Columbus police and animal-protection officials searched the homes April 5, 2016. Some animals were chained to heavy automobile axles buried in the ground, according to a complaint filed in federal court in Columbus.
The two-year investigation, dubbed “Operation Cheddar Dog,” was the largest dog-fighting investigation conducted by the Capital Area Humane Society, Executive Director Rachel D.K. Finney said after the arrests.
Of the 46 dogs found at the properties, 15 were sent to rescue groups or shelters outside central Ohio. The others were euthanized.
The prosecution and defense had agreed to five years in prison on the conspiracy charge and two years on a probation violation charged. One of the two years will be served at the same time as the five years.
The 2016 arrest violated Granberry’s probation from a 2015 charge for being at a dog-fighting event in Akron and having a gun.
Granberry will receive almost a year off the sentence for the time he has spent in jail.
The Humane Society spent almost $127,000 for housing and medical care for the dogs. A single $50,000 donation and public support wasn’t enough to repay the organization.
The society said it could not seek restitution from Granberry because it did not qualify as a “victim” under federal law.