An Everett man objected Tuesday to a Snohomish County judge’s order barring him from owning dogs as part of a felony sentence for videotaped fights between pit bull terriers.
Richard D.M. Argo, 29, told Superior Court Judge George Bowden he didn’t understand why he could not own dogs for two years.
Bowden said the case was about cruelty to animals, and keeping Argo away from dogs seemed prudent.
“The dog doesn’t have any ability to say ‘no’” when a fight is staged by its owners, Bowden said.
Argo on Tuesday pleaded guilty to a single count of entering a dog in a fight, a felony that carries a punishment of up to a year in prison. Bowden sentenced Argo to 45 days in work release.
After the hearing, Argo said he still owns pit bulls, although he declined to say how many.
He said he agreed with the judge that it is cruel to stage dog fights.
“I really feel that it is wrong,” he said.
The dog fight investigation began in 2002 after Arlington police found an indoor marijuana farm. During the search, they discovered a videotape depicting seven fights involving pit bull terriers at an Everett home.
One of the dogs, named Capone, was featured in the majority of the fights. So was somebody who could be heard encouraging the canine combat, according to court papers.
Police linked Argo to Capone after finding a Seattle newspaper in the home that featured an August 2002 photograph of the defendant walking Capone at the Seattle Hemp Festival.
Argo was photographed wearing the same style of jogging pants as the person who was videotaped encouraging the dog fights, prosecutors alleged.
In court Tuesday, Argo admitted he played a role in one of the staged fights but insisted that he tried to break it up.
“I regret what I did. I was hanging out with a real bad crowd,” Argo said.
Outside the courtroom, Argo said he wasn’t Capone’s owner at the time of the fights and took the animal away from that home. He said Capone died earlier this year of natural causes.
The guilty plea came after negotiations between prosecutors and Argo’s public defender. The work-release sentence was recommended by lawyers on both sides.
Prosecutors accepted a plea because they would have faced a difficult time proving exactly when the offenses occurred, and that could have resulted in acquittal, deputy prosecutor Coleen St. Clair said.
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