Nearly 800 roosters were seized after a cockfighting ring was busted in South Georgia, and the operation could lead to charges against the 178 people in attendance, authorities said.
Law enforcement officers from nine federal and state agencies busted the large operation in unincorporated Midville on Saturday, according to a news release by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Georgia.
The raid, which was dubbed “Operation Sunrise,” began as an investigation in South Carolina, the release said.
The cockfighting ring was discovered by the South Carolina Department of Public Safety Immigration Enforcement Unit, which led to an investigation by the U.S. Department of Agriculture Office of the Inspector General, the release said.
Before the bust, the Midville facility had already staged several events this year, utilizing an indoor arena. The location was outfitted with a “fighting ring, management office, concession stand and stadium bleachers for spectators,” the release said.
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The property’s owner, 48-year-old William Shannon Scott, was charged with sponsoring or exhibiting an animal in an animal fighting venture, the release said. Additional charges against him are pending.
The release did not say where Scott is being held, so his mug shot was not immediately available.
In addition to the roosters, authorities said they found other cockfighting paraphernalia, tens of thousands of dollars in gambling proceeds, firearms and illegal drugs. No other specifics were provided.
While Midville is in Burke County, the facility that was targeted by authorities is just across the Ogeechee River in neighboring Emanuel County. Midville is about 95 miles east of Macon and 165 miles southeast of downtown Atlanta.
In the release, the U.S. Attorney’s Office also announced that 38 people were charged in a Dec. 14, 2019, cockfighting bust in Lincoln County. Nearly all of the defendants in that case live outside of the county, authorities said.
Authorities previously told AJC.com that 40 suspects were charged in that investigation. It’s unclear what led to the charges being dropped against two suspects.
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The Lincoln County property owner, 64-year-old Lanier Augustus Hightower Jr., faces a count of conducting an illegal gambling business, the release said. Hightower, along with six co-defendants, also faces counts of sponsoring or exhibiting an animal in an animal fighting venture and possession of transport of an animal in an animal fighting venture.
All 38 defendants face misdemeanor counts of attending an animal fighting venture.
In a Monday tweet, the Georgia Department of Natural Resources said 30 game wardens participated in the Midville bust.
The other agencies involved included the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the FBI, Homeland Security Investigations, the U.S. Marshals Service, the Georgia State Patrol’s SWAT team and the Georgia Department of Corrections.
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