Jermaine Terrell Hadley, Dogfighting, Florida 2014

TALLAHASSEE, FL – A chilling tale of cruelty and criminal enterprise has unfolded in Gadsden County, Florida, with the unsealing of an 83-count federal indictment against eight individuals accused of running a large-scale dogfighting operation. The ring, allegedly intertwined with a drug trafficking network, involved approximately 100 dogs subjected to horrific abuse. The indictment was announced today by Lawrence Keefe, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Florida.

Federal investigators didn’t just find a fighting operation; they found evidence of its brutal aftermath. At one location searched, the remains of a recently deceased dog were discovered, a grim confirmation of recent fights. The United States Marshals Service recovered most of the canine victims, placing them in foster care—a small solace in a deeply disturbing case. This wasn’t a backwoods hobby; authorities believe this operation ran from 2014 through 2019.

“The United States Attorney’s Office takes allegations of dogfighting very seriously,” Keefe stated, emphasizing the moral implications of the crime. “Our society can be judged, in part, by how we treat our animals. This office will work with our partners at the federal, state, and local levels to pursue such cases vigorously.” The indictment arrives as part of an extensive investigation spearheaded by the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF).

Those facing federal charges are: Jermaine Terrell Hadley, 31, Quincy, Florida; Devar San Jacus Donaldson, 27, Quincy, Florida; Sariem Shanquell McMillian, 23, Quincy, Florida; Randell Lavel Colston, 47, Quincy, Florida; Bob Streets, 35, Quincy, Florida; Zanntayfey Yohoun Bennett, 35, Quincy, Florida; Dennis Lamar Howard, 45, Chattahoochee, Florida; and Leonard Safford, 37, Gretna, Florida. Each defendant could face up to five years imprisonment and fines of up to $250,000 per count of conviction.

This isn’t the first brush with the law for some of these defendants. Hadley, Donaldson, McMillian, and Colston were previously indicted in May 2019 on federal drug trafficking charges, accused of distributing methamphetamine, cocaine, and MDMA throughout the north-central Florida Panhandle between 2018 and 2019. The current indictment suggests the dogfighting ring was either a component of, or parallel to, that drug operation.

The investigation involved a massive collaborative effort, pulling in resources from the Drug Enforcement Administration, Homeland Security Investigations, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the U.S. Marshals Service, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and numerous state and local law enforcement agencies. Assistant United States Attorney Eric Mountin is prosecuting the case. It’s a reminder that these criminal enterprises rarely operate in isolation, and dismantling them requires a coordinated, multi-agency approach. An indictment is not a conviction; all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

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