SC man convicted of cockfighting for the second time after raid on illegal fighting derby
A North Augusta man who was previously convicted of cockfighting has been convicted of the same crime more than a decade later.
On March 12, 2022, Roosevelt Curry, 68, and at least six others attended a cockfighting derby on private property in Ridgeville. Participants, including Curry, paid $400 to enter four birds into the derby, and Curry made multiple entries, according to a news release from the District of South Carolina U.S. Attorney’s Office.
The group used a computer program to set the match-ups between the birds, and the birds were affixed with metal gaffes before each fight.
The Dorchester County Sheriff’s Office received a tip about the illegal gathering and raided the property.
“Officers searched the property and found a barrel containing birds that had been killed in the fights that had taken place so far that day,” the release said. “They also seized numerous bird transport boxes, metal gaffes and spurs and other items used by participants.”
Curry and six other people who attended the illegal cockfighting matches were indicted in U.S. District Court. The other six defendants pleaded guilty prior to Curry’s trial, according to the release.
U.S. District Judge Bruce Hendricks will sentence Curry at a later date. Curry could be given up to five years in prison for the charge. In 2010, he was also convicted for cockfighting.
