The Georgia Senate on Wednesday approved a bill that would allow people caught engaging in dogfighting rings to be charged with racketeering.
Current law allows prosecutors to indict people on racketeering charges if someone shows a pattern of participating in at least two activities from a list of associated crimes in state law — such as forgery and homicide — as part of an organized criminal enterprise.
Senate Bill 68, sponsored by Milledgeville Republican state Sen. Rick Williams, would add dogfighting to that list. It passed the Senate 46-7 with bipartisan support. Eight Democrats voted against the measure.
“This protects our animals that can’t protect themselves and prevents them from being used as deviant entertainment for people who otherwise have nothing better to do,” Williams said. “This also makes it part of the (Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations) Act, which would make it more stringent to be able to prosecute these people that make a living off this and especially the gangs that use this for ill.”
Organizing a dogfight already is a felony offense under current law and carries a sentence of one to five years behind bars, a fine of at least $5,000 or a combination of both on the first conviction. Any additional convictions would require a sentence of between one and 10 years in prison or a fine of at least $15,000.
Anyone convicted of being a spectator at a dogfight is guilty of a misdemeanor. A second spectator conviction is a felony offense that carries a sentence of one to five years, a fine of at least $5,000 or a combination of both.
Adding dogfighting to the activities that lead to a racketeering conviction could result in a sentence of no less than five and up to 20 years in prison on a first offense.
State Sen. Tonya Anderson, a Lithonia Democrat, said she and her colleagues voted against the bill because they do not support the policy of increasing mandatory minimum sentences that judges must give those convicted.
SB 68 is part of a flurry of legislation that’s been filed by Republican lawmakers this year seeking to beef up sentencing. Williams filed the legislation on behalf of Lt. Gov. Burt Jones.
Senators amended the bill to include gamecocks in anticipation of legislation making its way through the Capitol that would make rooster fighting illegal. That bill, House Bill 217, was filed earlier this month.
SB 68 now heads to the House for its approval.
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