Prosecutors have charged a 78-year-old Lewisville, Ark., man with a felony for holding cock fights.
Jack Coe reportedly was charging $10 to watch cock fights on his rural property on Highway 29 in Lafayette County, court records show. Anyone wanting to enter a rooster in a fight paid more. Coe allegedly used some of the money to pay winners and kept the rest as profit.
When Arkansas State Police investigators served a search warrant on Coe’s property June 7, they counted about 75 people on the property. Agents observed cock fights ongoing in a barn near a residence on Coe’s ranch. Sharp implements are commonly attached to a rooster’s talons before a fight to increase the gore.
Spectators are believed to bet on which roosters would emerge as victors and which would wind up in a pile of dead poultry amassed by the end of a day of cock-fighting bouts. During the search, investigators seized more than $8,000 in cash believed to be illegal gambling proceeds. The fights on Coe’s land were allegedly held in a carnival-like setting where snacks and drinks could be purchased.
Coe is currently free on bond. If convicted of unlawful animal fighting he faces up to six years in prison and a fine of up to $10,000. Coe may be eligible for probation.
