HUNTSVILLE, Ala. (WHNT) — The United States Department of Justice said a federal grand jury indicted five people from Alabama Monday in a cockfighting operation.
The DOJ said a two-count indictment was filed charging the following people with conspiracy to violate the Animal Welfare Act and the Prohibition on Illegal Gambling Businesses:
- James Shawn Murphree, 48, of Blountsville
- Kasten Finis Murphree, 22, of Blountsville
- Kelby Shawn Murphree, 27, of Blountsville
- Denny Gonzalez-Guzman, 30, of Albertville
- Kimberly Ann Evans, 48, of Hayden
The indictment says that between March 2025 and June 2025, Evans, James Murphree, Kasten Murphree and Kelby Murphree conspired to organize multiple cockfighting derbies in Blountsville. The DOJ said attendees paid $40 to watch the fight.
“Typical cockfights employ weapons that are attached to the backs of the roosters’ legs. Owners and operators of cockfighting arenas, called “pits,” hold organized fights where people can fight their trained roosters against other roosters in cockfighting tournaments called “derbies.” In a derby, large numbers of cockfighters pit their roosters against one another for entertainment. Spectators gamble on the outcomes of the cockfights, and the owners of the roosters stand to gain financially through their own wager, an arrangement where the derby winners receive a pre-determined portion of the derby entry fees, or through the enhanced value of their winning roosters,” the DOJ indictment said.
Competitors who entered roosters in the derbies paid an entry fee between $700 and $1,000. The winner of the derby would receive a share of the prize pool money.
“The Gulf of America (“GoA”) Homeland Security Task Force, in partnership with United States Department of Agriculture Office of Inspector General and the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency, conducted this long-term investigation. The GoA Homeland Security Task Force is comprised of authorities from Homeland Security Investigations, Federal Bureau of Investigations, Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigations, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms.
This investigation and operation received significant support from the United States Marshals Service, Customs and Border Protection, and ICE-Enforcement and Removal Operations. Assistant U.S. Attorneys John M. Hundscheid and Jonathan S. Cross are prosecuting the case.”
U.S. Department of Justice
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