Cockfighting suspect pleads no contest; to be deported

By Gwyneth Gibby
Gazette-Times reporter
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A man accused of raising roosters on a Benton County dairy farm and equipping them with razors for fighting pleaded no contest Monday to one count of cockfighting.

Martin Ramos-Reyes, 36, entered the plea in Benton County Circuit Court as part of an agreement that included the dismissal of one count of methamphetamine possession. Both are class C felonies.

Judge Locke Williams sentenced Ramos-Reyes to 10 days in jail with credit for time served and two years of supervised probation, the maximum possible penalty under state sentencing guidelines.

According to District Attorney John Haroldson, Ramos-Reyes will be deported to Mexico.

Ramos-Reyes was arrested Aug. 21, when Corvallis police and federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents raided the Van Beek Dairy near Monroe. Six employees of the dairy were taken into federal custody because they were allegedly in the country illegally. Ramos-Reyes has been in custody in the Benton County Jail pending the resolution of the criminal charges against him.

At the time of his arrest, police seized two roosters from the dairy that had wounds consistent with fighting while equipped with razors up to three inches in length; one of the roosters was blinded in one eye. Police also seized some of the razors, or “spurs.â€