A Coffee County man will serve the maximum sentence allowed by law for dogfighting, following a conviction handed down today. Jurors convicted Roger Oliver in an incident that occurred in 2013. The case was prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Ian Sansot.
The evidence presented at trial showed that on the night of November 24, 2013, officers with the Coffee County Sheriff’s Office responded to a residence in the county after receiving reports of a dogfighting event. Upon Deputy Chris Rozar’s arrival, individuals on scene scattered, some of them fleeing into the nearby woods.
Deputy Rozar testified that, upon his arrival, two dogs were actively fighting in the ring and had to be broken up. Animal Control was contacted and took possession of the dogs found. While Oliver was not located on scene, his truck was found on location with a dog pen in the back. Trooper Jamie Quinn testified that while he was near the incident location, he spotted Oliver emerge from the darkened woods. Quinn subsequently detained Oliver and returned him to the scene.
Two others charged in the incident were also called to testify. Both had previously entered guilty pleas to their involvement in the crime. One testified that he pointed out to officers which dogs were Oliver’s. After the jury rendered their unanimous guilty verdict and hearing evidence of Oliver’s previous criminal history, Judge J. Kelly Brooks, who presided over the trial, sentenced Oliver to the maximum allowed under the law for dogfighting, five years to serve in prison.
District Attorney George Barnhill states, “I am very grateful to our officers who diligently and actively protect our community- whether they’re people or animals! I thank Sheriff Doyle Wooten and his deputies for their work in this and all our other cases. Without the quick responses of Deputy Chris Rozar and Jamie Quinn, who knows how much more suffering these dogs would have endured? It’s my hope that this sentence will discourage others from ‘enjoying’ this kind of tragic behavior.”