GONZALES — Four men were arrested earlier this month in connection with an alleged cockfighting operation in Gonzales.
On Nov. 16, Ascension Parish Sheriff’s deputies responded to a home on West Martha’s Vineyard Road in Gonzales for reports of illegal cockfighting. When deputies arrived, multiple people fled into the home.
During their investigation, deputies say they found 34 caged roosters, along with two other roosters that were dead. Roosters had wraps used for attaching knives on their feet, according to officials, and the dead roosters’ injuries were consistent with cockfighting.
After making contact with the four people who’d fled into the home, deputies obtained arrest warrants for the men.
Jose Perez, 25; Bryan Saldana, 28; Filiberto Banda-Pena, 39; and Oscar Fregaso-Solorzano, 33, were each arrested and charged with one count of organized cockfighting. Perez, the homeowner and owner of the roosters, is also charged with 36 counts of possession of cockfighting animals.
Perez is a fugitive from another state and remains in the Ascension Parish Jail. His bond is set at $410,000. Fregaso-Solorzano is also a fugitive and is in the Ascension Parish Jail with a bond set at $50,000.
The other men have bonded out.
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