| Shan Gachot, |
Cockfighting -145 birds seized and euthanized |
Carnegie, OK |
July 22, 2006 |
Gachot of Carnegie, OK was arrested
by State and Federal Law Officer, on felony charges of sponsoring and exhibiting
fighting cocks and instigating and providing a pit for cockfighting evolving
from a weekend raid on Indian land near
US Attorney Sheldon Sperling stated several other individuals were charged with misdemeanors of sponsoring, exhibiting or transporting animals for fighting. Sperling also stated that about 70 people face a misdemeanor charge for being a spectator at a cockfight and 15 illegal immigrants were also arrested.
Update 7/25/2006:
70 people were cited by law enforcement officials for watching a cockfight and 145 fighting birds were destroyed. Of that 15 were illegal immigrants and taken into federal custody.
State Troopers and Federal Agents
raided a Saturday night cockfight on Indian trust allotment land south of
Misdemeanor citations were given to those watching the fight and Shan Gachot, 42, was arrested on Federal felony charges for staging the cockfight.
Update 8/4/06:
Gachot, age 42 along with Bill Tsoodle a deputy US Marshal of Oklahoma City, and Michael Eugene Daugherty, age 38 of Anadarko all face felony charges for cockfighting on Indian land. Tsoodle is also charged with facilitating a cockfight.
The Prosecutors and Judges of the US District Court for the Western District of Oklahoma recused themselves because of Tsoodle’s alleged involvement. The 3 appeared in a Lawton court for preliminary hearings but the case will be heard in the Eastern District at Muskogee.
Tsoodles had retired in May, 2006 unrelated to this case. However the FBI had been conducting an 8-month undercover investigation that led to the arrests. The FBI investigation uncovered that on 11/2/05, a state highway department supervisor had spotted a bulldozed area on Tsoodles land to build a cockfight arena. A month later, a beige, windowless metal building construction was well under way. The local Bureau of Indian Affairs police chief met with Gachot who was organizing cockfights for Tsoodles property.
On March 9, 2006, 2 Oklahoma Highway Patrol Troopers stopped a Mexican man whose pickup had a load of fighting cocks. They seized documents, including schedule of events on Tsoodles property and a card identifying the man as the trader for the “Kiowa Preservation of Culture and Rural Lifestyles:.
On May 6th, 2 undercover
officers posed as cockfighters and paid $20.00 for
an observer card and $15.00 as a cover charge to watch the fight. The roosters
would fight in the main pit for a time limit then continued the match in a
separate pit.
On June 15th Oklahoma City police searched a home at 18817 SE 149th in response to a complaint and seized 61 live gamefowl along with numerous knives and gaffers. The evidence also suggested that these birds would be used at the arena on Tsoodles property.
On June 19th the undercover officers witnessed another event attended by about 100 people.
In July, 2000 Gachot was the casino manager for the Kiowa Grand Casino which was closed in June, 2000 by the National Indian Gaming Commission, amid allegations that more than $2million was unaccounted for during a federal audit. An audit showed that the casino grossed $2.3 million from January through October of 1999 but half of the tribes 1999 records were missing. Gachot replaced Tammy Reeves as manager after she quit in October 1999. Gachot conducted the internal audit that lead to the FBI investigation. In October 2000, Kiowa Tribe Chairman Billy Evans Horse surrendered the casino records to a federal grand jury under a subpoena. The case remains under investigation.
Reference:
KOCO 5 Oklahoma
Indian Country
The Oklahoman
News 9
Casino Magazine