Georgia man sentenced to 475 years in prison for animal cruelty, longest sentence ever

A Georgia man has been sentenced to nearly 500 years in prison for breeding and training pit bulls for illegal dog fighting. More than a hundred animals fell victim to him. One of the dogs was even present at the trial, the newspaper writes. USA Today.

Vincent LeMark Burrell, 57, was sentenced to 475 years in prison after being found guilty of 93 counts of running a dog fighting ring and 10 counts of cruelty to animals. The trial took place in Paulding County, Georgia, near Atlanta.

Each charge of organizing dog fights added five years to his sentence, and each charge of cruelty to animals added one year, making his sentence several centuries long.

It's the longest sentence ever handed down for dog fighting, according to Jessica K. Rock, the state's animal crimes attorney. Even if Burrell had been convicted of only organizing the fights, his sentence would have been 465 years.

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"Let this be a clear message: Paulding County will not tolerate the inhumane treatment of animals, especially the violence and cruelty associated with dog fighting," said lead prosecutor K.C. Pagnotta. "It is time to put an end to the cruelty to innocent creatures."

Burrell's attorney, David Heath, filed a motion for a new trial because he believes the verdict is "not supported by the evidence."

Why Burrell was arrested

The investigation began after police received a complaint from an Amazon courier who saw numerous dogs chained to fence posts with heavy chains on the recipient's property. They were located close to each other, but not so close that they could reach each other. This tactic is aimed at developing aggression in the animals.

On November 8, 2022, after obtaining a search warrant, officers found 107 dogs, most of them pit bulls, at the owner's home. Some were emaciated, others were in good shape but "extremely aggressive toward other dogs."

Burrell was arrested the same day and charged with "breeding, training and keeping more than 100 pit bulls for the purpose of conducting dog fighting," police said.

Monstrous conditions of detention

Officers found dogs tied to trees, metal stakes in the ground and other objects “with large, extremely heavy chains and thick collars,” according to a statement from the sheriff’s office. Friends To The Forlorn Pitbull Rescue, which helped rescue the dogs, wrote on Facebook that some were even tied to car axles.

"Many of these dogs were exposed to the elements virtually 24 hours a day," the sheriff's office said. "They were also not being monitored or vaccinated by a veterinarian."

The animals had no access to food or water and "most of them were in a state of extreme malnutrition," prosecutors said in a statement.

Some of the dogs were kept in the basement of a house that was filthy with urine and feces. The smell was so strong that authorities had to wear special equipment to enter the premises safely.

"The conditions in which the dogs were kept both inside and outside of this home were unfit for not only the animals but also for humans," the sheriff's office said.

Dog rehabilitation

All dogs were transferred to various shelters for rehabilitation, police said.

"The saddest part of this story is that the vast majority of these animals were simply craving love and attention from the deputies and detectives who responded to the scene," the sheriff's office said.

Friends To The Forlorn Pitbull Rescue President and Founder Jason M. Flatt and handler Frank Ortiz "worked day and night for four days straight to free over 100 dogs from their chains," the organization said in a Facebook post.

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Rescued dog on trial

Flatt still cares for one of the dogs rescued from that area. Her name is Baby Shark, and Flatt was asked to bring the animal to court.

"Today she saw justice in full," Flatt wrote.

"Don't have dog fights in my district," he added. "It's not tolerated here."

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