Wash Heights Super Sentenced For Dog Fighting, Fentanyl Possession: DA

WASHINGTON HEIGHTS, NY - A Washington Heights man was sentenced to nearly half a decade in prison for his role in an organized dog fighting ring in the neighborhood, authorities said.

Jose Rivera, 59, was sentenced Thursday to 4.5 years in state prison after he pleaded guilty on Nov. 14 to animal fighting and drug charges, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg said in a statement. Rivera is also barred from owning any animal for 10 years.

From September 2018 to October 2019, Rivera trained dogs to fight in the Washington Heights building where he was employed as a live-in super, according to court documents and statements made in court. He also organized two dogfights and had additional ones planned.

In October 2019, authorities seized ten pit bulls, two non-fighting dogs, multiple treadmills, breaking sticks and a dead dog found in Rivera’s freezer.

Four kilograms of heroin and three kilograms of fentanyl in brick, powder, and rock form, as well as two loaded handguns, were also found in Rivera’s possession, Bragg said. An investigation later revealed that Rivera acted as a distributor and supplier to other drug dealers in the tristate area.

“Jose Rivera threatened and endangered the lives of dogs with this despicable dogfighting ring,” Bragg said in a statement.

“In addition to abusing animals, Jose Rivera knowingly possessed narcotic drugs with the intent to sell them, putting the safety of New Yorkers at risk. Today’s sentencing demonstrates that animal cruelty will never be tolerated in New York.”