Dogfighting operation gets man two years in pen

A Round Lake Beach man was sentenced to two years in prison Wednesday for running a dogfighting operation out of his home.

Lake County Circuit Judge Fred Foreman said the poor performance posted by Moises Colon during previous stints on probation made it impossible for him to consider another one.

Colon, 35, pleaded guilty in October to a felony charge of dogfighting and faced up to three years in prison.

Assistant State's Attorney Scott Hoffert said Colon had previously been convicted of burglary in 1997, battery in 1998 and drug possession in 2007. After the 1997 and 1998 convictions, Hoffert said, Colon violated his probation by not paying restitution and periodically failing to report to his probation officer.

Colon also violated his probation on the 2007 conviction, Hoffert said, by being charged in the dogfighting case.

On Sept. 11, 2008, Round Lake Beach police took a search warrant to Colon's home in the 1600 block of Poplar Avenue. They found 27 pit bulls kenneled in the garage, manuals on dog fighting and equipment used to train dogs for fighting.

Most of the adult dogs had to be destroyed, Hoffert said, while the puppies in the group were put up for adoption.

Colon was arrested along with his girlfriend and mother of his daughter, Estella Gonzalez, 25, who pleaded guilty to misdemeanor attempted dog fighting in October and was placed on probation for two years.

Hoffert said Colon should be sentenced to the full three-year prison term for his unwillingness to comply with the rules of probation and because of the nature of the new offense.

"This crime is heinous," Hoffert told Foreman. "These animals cannot defend themselves, so they depend on the courts to defend them."

Waukegan defense attorney Elliot Pinsel asked Foreman to consider another term of probation for Colon, perhaps including some local jail time.

"He is employed and needs to support his daughter," Pinsel said. "You have someone here you can do something with."

But Foreman said he wanted to send a message to the community in his sentence for Colon.

"This is a very serious offense and there should be no question about it," Foreman said.

"This is not a sport; it has a very traumatic effect on the dogs involved."