A spokesman for the United States Attorney’s Office of the Eastern District of North Carolina also confirmed Gary also received 10 years of supervised release.
Meanwhile, Mr. Gary’s wife, Erica, got five years of supervised release with 120 days of imprisonment.
His son Zhaqwaun, received three years of supervised release and six months imprisonment, the spokesman confirmed.
Sentencing of the trio, who ran the ring off Stack Powell and were arrested in April of 2013, was Thursday.
The United States Attorney’s Office, according to federal court documents, had pushed for more stringent sentencing based on the length of the history with game dogs, a kennel, and dog fighting as well as the extraordinary cruelty to an animal that resulted in maiming, and other serious injuries to animals recovered from the property.
The spokesman said a news release on the sentencing is pending.
The case goes back to April of 2013 when the Halifax County Sheriff’s Office received a complaint Erica Gary was conducting dogfighting operations at her residence on Stack Powell Road outside Roanoke Rapids.
When deputies arrived, no dogfighting was observed, but blood samples were obtained from an area appearing to have had recent dogfighting and multiple animals were seized.
In the shed, deputies located a steel bucket with bloody water, and what appeared to be a ring for dogfighting.
A carpet with blood was found and there were splatters on the walls. The dogs were in a wooden fence-in area and there was blood at the bottom of the fence.
Several pit bulls were chained up within the fence. A Halifax Animal Control officer was called out and gave his opinion this was a dogfighting ring based on his review of the shed set up and appearance.
Deputies located approximately 17 pit bulls and they all had wounds and scars consistent with dogfighting.
While looking for evidence of dogfighting, deputies located marijuana plants growing in a shed on the property. Deputies obtained a search warrant based on the discovery. There were approximately 68 plants, a grow light, seeds, timers and heaters in support of the growing operation.
A search warrant was also executed at the home of Erica Gary and two firearms were located in the closet of the bedroom shared by she and her husband.