Almost 200 Charges Alleging Torture And Starvation Of Fighting Dogs; Hampton Bays Man Among The Defendants

The 10 Long Island men, including one from Hampton Bays, charged this past summer with being part of an interstate dog-fighting ring, had their grand jury indictments unsealed last week in the courtroom of State Supreme Court Justice Anthony Senft in Riverside.

They are facing, collectively, over 60 felony charges, as well as more than twice that number of misdemeanors. The names of two other Long Island men were included in the indictment but redacted from the document made available to the press because they are still at large.

The current prosecuting attorney on the case, the D.A.’s senior investigative counsel, Christiana McSloy, said in court on Tuesday, December 21, that the charges against the men were based, in part, on three months of court-ordered wiretaps that started the beginning of May and concluded at the end of July. Police then executed search warrants.

The charges allege that the men owned, bred and trained pit bull dogs, then staged fights between the dogs for profit. The alleged “training” of the pit bulls included torturing the animals by starving them, according to dozens of the misdemeanors the men are facing.

Charles MacWhinnie, 52, of Hampton Bays is facing three felony charges: the breeding and selling of fighting dogs, training fighting dogs, and permitting them to fight. He is also facing seven misdemeanor charges, including one alleging torture. Among the other misdemeanor charges are several for allegedly possessing dog-fighting equipment, with a prior conviction of the same charge on his record.

Besides the seven felony dog-fighting-related charges that Darrel Madison, 44, of Mastic is facing, he also has been charged as a drug trafficker. The indictment states that he was in possession of over a half pound of cocaine when his home was searched this past summer. He is facing felony charges of possession of narcotics, and possession with intent to sell. Madison is also facing 13 misdemeanor charges of torture by starvation, among many other charges.

Eighty-one dogs were rescued on Long Island, and another eight in Connecticut.

The operation that led to the arrest of the defendants was a multi-department and -jurisdictional one, incorporating investigators from Suffolk and Nassau counties, as well as New York City, and Connecticut, and various agencies related to stopping cruelty to animals, such as the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. These groups included the Brevard SPCA in Titusville, Florida, and the St. Hubert’s Animal Welfare Center in Madison, Wisconsin.

Several of the defendants are already negotiating for plea-bargained deals. Two of those, Jontae Barker, 32, of Bay Shore, and Edward Hodge, 75, of Uniondale, appeared briefly in court on Tuesday, seeking to have the offer made by the office of current District Attorney Tim Sini until their next court appearance in early January.

Barker is facing four dog-fighting-related felonies, along with almost two dozen misdemeanor charges of torture, while Hodge is facing about a dozen felonies, along with several misdemeanor charges.

Having that agreement placed into the record before Justice Senft could prove pivotal for the defendants, since the next time they appear in court, they will be facing a new prosecuting attorney. The new D.A., Raymond Tierney, a Republican who defeated Sini, a Democrat, in November, takes office on January 1, the first member of his party to hold the position in 20 years.

The current assistant district attorney on the dog-fighting cases, McSloy, has been told, according to a source familiar with the office, who spoke on condition of anonymity, “to clean out her desk by December 31.”

McSloy, a 21-year veteran prosecuting attorney, who has handled major drug and gang-related cases for Bronx, Nassau, and Suffolk County D.A.’s, seemed to indicate, during Barker’s session before Justice Senft, that any deal kept open until January would require a guilty plea to a felony crime. Then, while acknowledging the impact of the state’s bail reform laws, which went into effect January 1, 2020, McSloy asked Senft to impose tighter restrictions on Barker’s movement. As with all the defendants, Barker is free without having to post bail.

The felony charges related to abusing animals the men are facing are not considered violent crimes that rise to the level that trigger the need for bail to be set, under the reforms the state put in place last year.

Barker’s attorney, Lindsay Henry, responded that his client has no criminal record, and has never failed to appear on any court date.

Senft wrapped the matter up, pointing out that, under the bail reform laws, his hands are essentially tied, but warned that any legal misstep by Barker between then and his January court appearance could allow him to revisit the bail question.

The same arguments were made during Hodge’s appearance, with the same conclusion being reached. Senft noted that, being 75 years old, the lack of a criminal record did speak somewhat well toward Hodge’s character.

William Ashton of Mastic, the oldest defendant in the group, at 80, was due in court on Wednesday, December 22, after this paper’s deadline. Ashton is facing about six felony charges, along with numerous misdemeanors, including charges that indicate he has a prior conviction for possession of dog-fighting equipment.