Two persons from the Harrah area who were arrested in January after law enforcement officers discovered an illegal cockfighting operation in Lincoln County each face 88 felony charges.
Justin James McHone, 38, and Tara Kay Gentry, 42, were arrested and transported to the Lincoln County Jail in Chandler on Thursday, Jan. 16.
Shortly afterwards, they each were charged with instigating/encouraging cockfight; keeping place/equipment/facility for cockfighting; and /train bird for fighting.
The charges were filed in Lincoln County District Court in Chandler.
As of March 4, amended information was filed and they each face an additional 85 charges of own/possess/keep/train bird for fighting.
The pair was arrested as law enforcement officers from several agencies were executing a search warrant.
The District Attorney’s Office said the Lincoln County 911 address for the two is 105125 S. 3300, Harrah Road in Lincoln County.
A search warrant had been issued for the residence located at 2214 S. Pine Road, in Harrah in Lincoln County. The search warrant was for the search and seizure of stolen property from a burglary in Oklahoma County, District Attorney Allan Grubb said.
McHone and Gentry made their initial appearances in January. Bond for McHone was set at that time $3,000 and a $2,000 bond was set then for Gentry.
McHone now is due back in court at 1:30 p.m. onApril 2 to continue a pre-preliminary hearing, according to court records.
Gentry is now scheduled for her next reappearance at 1 p.m. on April 27, court records show.
According to information provided by Grubb’s office, on Thursday, Jan. 16, around 2:40 p.m., law enforcement, along with investigators, executed a search warrant with the assistance of Oklahoma County.
During the search of the property for stolen items, deputies along with investigators noticed approximately 60 Game fowl most commonly known as “Fighting Cocks.”
The Game fowl were in a fenced area with individual housing and were tethered to the housing, officers reported. Continuing their search ofthe property, investigators found an arena in a barn that had indications of what appeared to be dried blood on the walls.
On further searching the area, investigators found animal medication and cockfighting spurs with blood on the leather straps.