WASHINGTON — Two men from Maryland and Virginia pleaded guilty in court Tuesday to charges connected to a dogfighting conspiracy that lasted years.
According to the Department of Justice (DOJ), 41-year-old Derek Garcia and 52-year-old Ricardo Thorne spoke with other people in Virginia, D.C. and Maryland using a messaging app. The private message group was generally referred to as "The DMV Board" or "The Board." The members would discuss training fighting dogs, exchange videos of dogfighting and arrange and coordinate dog fights, away from authorities.
"Members of The DMV Board also used the messaging app to compare methods of killing dogs that lost fights, as well as to circulate media reports about conspirators who had been caught by law enforcement and discuss methods to minimize the likelihood that they would be caught themselves," the DOJ said in a press release.
According to court documents, in Nov. 2015, Thorne told another group member that he had made a lot of money from charging admissions to dog fights he had held for years at a warehouse off Kenilworth Avenue in D.C. Thorne claimed that he had a fighting dog that killed six other dogs in less than a year.
In Dec. 2016, Garcia sold a fighting dog to another person involved in dogfighting for $1,700, court documents show. In March 2017, Garcia reportedly told one of his co-conspirators how to delete the messages on the DMV Board without deleting the group from the messaging app.
Court documents show in June 2017, Thorne claimed in the DMV Board group that the most he had ever won in one fight was $15,000. Two years later he posted in the same chat that his “Darkside Kennels” had been around for over 20 years.
"On July 30, 2019, Thorne possessed at his residence dogfighting paraphernalia and nine pitbull-type dogs, many with scarring patterns and lacerations consistent with dogfighting," the DOJ said. "When questioned by law enforcement agents, Thorne denied any involvement ever in dogfighting, and said that he did not know that there were nine dogs tied up in his backyard."
Around June 28, 2020, Garcia posted in the group recalling a fight between dogs, one of which Garcia conditioned and handled, according to court documents. Garcia claimed his dog was the winner after the opponent's dog stopped moving 32 minutes into the fight.
Garcia, Thorne and four others were indicted for the dogfighting conspiracy in August 2022. Three other conspirators pleaded guilty to the same dogfighting conspiracy in November.
Garcia and Thorne are expected to be sentenced on March 7, 2023. Each faces a maximum penalty of five years in prison.
One defendant brought his seven-year-old son to cheer on his favorite canine, named “Cookie Monster" to a fight.