Musella man pleads guilty after two dogs beaten to death with sledgehammer

A Musella man was sentenced to prison after pleading guilty Wednesday in a Crawford County dogfighting case in which two dogs were beaten to death with a sledgehammer.

John Russell Cail, 23, pleaded in Crawford County Superior Court to two counts of aggravated animal cruelty and one count each of dogfighting and possession of methamphetamine.

Russell entered a best-interest plea to the animal cruelty charges, saying he did not beat the dogs himself but was present, said Elizabeth Bobbitt, as assistant district attorney for the Macon Judicial District, which includes Crawford County.

"He said, 'I was present, but I was not the one who struck the blow that killed the dogs,' " Bobbitt said. "But being a party to the crime, there's no distinction. If you are engaging in dogfighting and a dog is killed, whether you're the one who struck the blow or another participant does, you are still a party to that crime."

Efforts to reach his Macon attorney, Debra G. Gomez, were not successful Wednesday.

His co-defendant, Robert Wayne Durham, 28, faces a trial on dogfighting and animal cruelty charges, Bobbitt said.

On Jan. 1, a neighbor near the 1130 Hopewell Road East home where Cail and Durham lived called 911 to report that animals were in distress. Arriving Crawford County sheriff's deputies saw at least two men running from the home, Bobbitt said.

The deputies discovered a dogfighting ring with fresh blood in it, dogfighting paraphernalia and the two dead dogs, Bobbitt said. The dogs were likely killed because they would not fight, she said.

Seven other dogs and two puppies were seized, Bobbitt said.

Cail was sentenced to eight years in prison and seven years on probation, Bobbitt said. He was fined $5,000, ordered to pay $2,200 in restitution for veterinary bills and ordered to stay out of Crawford County during the duration of his sentence. He also cannot own any pets or be involved in the breeding of animals.

Also, Cail faces a probation violation hearing in DeKalb County where he was on first-offender status for an unrelated robbery, Bobbitt said. First-offender status provides for a felony to be wiped from a criminal record if the terms of the sentence are carried out without a violation.

To contact writer Becky Purser, call 256-9559, or find her on Twitter@becpurser.

This story was originally published December 2, 2015 at 4:59 PM with the headline "Musella man pleads guilty after two dogs beaten to death with sledgehammer ."