BLUE RIDGE - As a result of a four-month undercover investigation by the GBI, five people, including the mayor of Blue Ridge, have been charged in connection with an illegal cockfighting operation in Fannin County.
The arrests were made Thursday morning during a seriesof raids in Fannin County. The GBI says the four organizers - Wayne Rogers, 55; Tommy Rogers, 53; Milton Thomas Ross, 37; and Clyde Bent Gray, 71; all of Mineral Bluff - are charged with commercial gambling, keeping a gambling place and cruelty to animals. Robert Greene, 83, the mayor of Blue Ridge, was charged with gambling. All five are in custody.
The investigation into this operation began in January at the request of the Appalachian Judicial Circuit District Attorney's Office. Agents were able to confirm that this activity was taking place on property near the North Carolina state line. GBI undercover agents attended the cockfights on five separate occasions and gathered evidence leading to the issuance of the arrest warrants for these individuals.
The GBI says each cockfight was attended by as many as 300 people and was in operation most every Saturday. The organizers published a fight schedule calling their operation the "Sawmill Game Club" with the "season" running from November 11, 2004 to July 2, 2005. It is estimated that during a season the organizers would have made in excess of $200,000 from their illegal enterprise.
Thursday
October 10th, 2024
7:56PM
