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Defendant may be resentenced on cockfighting charges
Animal cruelty still a relatively rare crime in this area
New Gavel

MONROE — Prosecutors are moving to reinstate charges against a defendant charged in 2018 with running an illegal cockfighting ring in Clarno Township.

The petition to revoke a deferred prosecution agreement means the defendant could be resentenced on the dozen felony charges of mistreatment of animals causing death in relation to the case.

Water Minh Dang, 36, and Phuong P.T. Nguyen, 39, both of Clarno, were taken into custody in October 2018 after deputies executed a search of a home in the W6900 block of County B, southwest of Monroe. 

Dozens of caged birds were recovered in 2018 by the Green County Sheriff’s Office.

The felony animal cruelty charges were later dismissed against the pair, although according to court records, the new petition to revoke the charges apparently only applies to Dang. District attorney Craig Nolen said he was not the prosecutor who reached the deferred prosecution agreement with the pair.

“The next hearing relates to revoking the Deferred Conviction Agreement due to non-compliance with the terms and conditions,” said Nolen, in an email statement. “I will decline to comment on why the agreement was reached in 2019 because I am personally not the prosecutor assigned to this case …”

Court filings appear to indicate the Dang has failed to pay fines related to the deferred prosecution agreement. He also has failed to comply with terms of probation on a 2023 bail jumping case, according to court records.

In certain cases, each count of animal cruelty causing death in Wisconsin can potentially result in a maximum prison term of up to three years on each count.

Officials were informed a cockfighting operation was present in 2018 at the residence, as well as injured animals. Police on scene also discovered supplies for a marijuana growing operation on the premises but no plants were found and the couple were not charged with that crime.

But officers discovered a building used for fighting, miscellaneous cages and equipment related to an illegal operation. Three birds had to be euthanized at the site. Officers seized another 37 adult chickens and 16 chicks.

According to court records, Dang pleaded no contest to a Class I felony count of failure to pay child support in Columbia County in 2015, which was dismissed two years later as part of an agreement with the court. Three other charges of failing to pay child support for 120 days or more were dismissed.

In the other more recent major animal cruelty case locally, a Lafayette County couple were sentenced in March related to 100 combined charges, including felonies, related to the inhumane treatment and deaths of goats on a farm near Darlington. Those crimes were unrelated to the cockfighting case.

As many as 200 of the animals perished on the farm, at the hands of Kyle D. Lincicum and his wife, Stephanie, over the course of about a year, authorities alleged in a criminal complaint. They were reportedly renting the farm and raising the goats through an agreement with the property owners.

In March, Kyle Lincicum was sentenced to 15 months in jail on the charges, fines, and probation. He also was banned from any employment that involves caring for animals. Stephanie Lincicum was sentenced to 9 months in jail with Huber privileges, fines, and probation.