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NEW HAMPSHIRE |
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Christopher Devito age 33, of 37 Williamine Dr. plead guilty to
23 counts of animal cruelty in Rockingham County Superior Court
on 6/19/02. He was charged with 37 counts of animal
cruelty and 37 counts of exhibition of fighting animals. As part
of the plea agreement 13 counts will not be prosecuted including
charges of possession of steroids without a prescription and 1
count of criminal threatening. |
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Devito was sentenced to 2 to 5 years in prison, followed by 2
years probation, and ordered to pay $62,000 restitution. Also as
a condition of his parole, he will not be allowed to own animals
or attend animal fights.
With his plea bargain, the other 22 charges brought 2 to 4 years
in prison, with suspended jail time. Had the case gone to trial
Devito could have faced a maximum of 3 1/2 to 7 years on each
count. Devito ran the Smiling Buddha Kennels on his 12-acre
property. |
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Authorities raided Devito's home in January 2002 after a worker
who had been fired from his job feeding the dogs tipped off
Newton's animal control officer that some of the animals were
injured and scared. 43 dogs were confiscating from a soundproof
Quonset hut in the woods on the property.
Most of the dogs had scars on their faces, chest and torso,
pieces of their ears ripped off and missing toes, 1 had 2 broken
legs that healed on its own without medical attention and one
had no tongue. A female pit bull was also found in a cage with
10 newborn pups. The dogs all had to be euthanized because they
were not adoptable. The NH SPCA evaluated the dogs,
veterinarians, the Humane Society of the United States, Peta and
the MSPCA |
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Also found were treadmills, a collapsible fighting pit,
blood-stained carpet and steroids along with $292,000 in cash -
in bundles of $5,000, which was later seized by federal
authorities in a civil forfeiture linked to drug trafficking and
money laundering. In February 2002 the federal government seized
Devito's property and several vehicles under a federal drug
forfeiture law for trafficking marijuana. A Woburn, MA man
convicted of marijuana trafficking told the police Devito was
his regular supplier, alleging he was having 500 pounds of
marijuana a month shipped to New England in refrigerated trucks
from the West Coats. Devito's lawyer, Michael Natola of Boston,
MA has said the seizure amounts to more than $700,000 worth of
property. Among the property seized were 2 Volvos, A Dodge Ram
pickup truck, a tractor, trailer 2 off road recreational
vehicles, a Ford Excursion and a condominium in Clearwater,
Florida. In May
2002 the house - a 3,300 square foot cape and surrounding land
in Newton, was appraised at $372,000. In August 2002, the US
Attorney's Office would not comment on whether federal drug
charged might be brought.
Because of the numbers of dogs confiscated, they were sent to
humane society shelters in Dover, Concord and Monadnock region
and animal rescue leagues in Bedford and Salem, NH. When the
dogs were euthanized, grief counseling was provided to those
affected by the case. The fighting tendency was the result of
genetics, not so much training, so even the pups were euthanized.
While in the care of the animal shelters, at 15 1/2 weeks old 2
of the pups began attacking each other, even though they had
never been trained for fighting.
Devito's lawyer was given a 30-day window to have his own
experts inspect the animals before they would be euthanized. The
defense did not take advantage of that opportunity.
Prior to this case the police had investigated barking-dog
complaints at Devito's residence and in 1999 he was convicted of
owning nuisance dogs. A Plaistow District Court judge ordered
Devito to remove the dogs from the property until he created a
plan to address the barking problem. The 10 dogs were de-barked,
then returned after Devito built the hut. Debarking is the
removal of vocal cords.
Devito left his job as a computer systems engineer at Harvard
University in November 2001 due to a back injury. Devito's wife
Lena a Spanish teacher at Tiberlane Regional High School
resigned on March 21st after February 12th protest outside the
high school. Lena Devito was a 1st year teacher at the high
school and had held other support staff positions before become
a Spanish teacher. Lena Devito was under no obligation to
resign, she had a right to continue teaching at the school
because she had not been charged.
More than 3500 people signed a petition urging a stiff sentence
be imposed in the Devito case according to a spokesman for the
Abolishers of Animal Fighting.
Dog-fighting bets can range anywhere from $5,000 to $100,000. A
fighting dog that wins 5 consecutive fights is known as a Grand
Champion and their offspring are worth $1,500 to $2,000 per pup.
Dog fighting is against the law in all 50 states and a felony in
47.
Case Updates
Posted: Aug 1, 2003 - 11:38 AM
DeVito was sentenced to an additional 3 years in federal prison
for laundering $76,250 that was collected by selling drugs, per
court records.
He was also sentenced to 3 years' supervised release, which
means he will not be allowed to own any firearms or weapons and
will have to submit to a number of drug tests after he is
released from prison.
The 3 year sentence will begin after DeVito's current stint in
prison is
complete. Judge Steven J. McAuliffe recommended that the
sentence be served
in a Texas federal prison, where his wife and family currently
live.
For the purpose of sentencing, the court estimated that DeVito
sold between
20-40 kilograms of marijuana per month to 2 Massachusetts men.
The federal
government seized more than $290,000 cash from DeVito's home.
The
prosecution was not able to gather enough evidence to charge
DeVito with
drug trafficking.
DeVito's prior criminal record revealed numerous counts of
operating a
motor vehicle without a license and a charge of assault with a
deadly
weapon.
Posted: Jan 8, 2003 - 4:13 PM
On Aug. 28, Judge Abramson addressed the defendant Christopher
DeVito, 37,
in Hillsboro North County Court, telling him: "You are possibly
the most
publicly reviled defendant I have ever seen in my days on the
bench ... you
inflicted such pain and torture on helpless animals for fun and
profit."
On 23 counts of Exhibition of Fighting Animals, Judge Abramson
sentenced
DeVito to 2-to-5 years in state prison on the first charge and
2-to-4 years
in prison on the remaining 22 charges. Due to the severity of
the offenses,
the judge warranted a state prison sentence, rather than a
county jail
sentence.
References
• • The Manchester Union Leader
• The Hampton Union
• The Concord Monitor
• The Eagle Tribune
• The Portsmouth Herald
• Fosters Democrat
• The Associated Press
• Reader's Digest
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