2 Elmont men face animal cruelty charges

Courtesy Nassau County District Attorney's Office

Two Elmont men are behind bars and facing several felony animal cruelty charges.

Nassau County District Attorney Kathleen Rice announced on Aug. 5 that cousins Marlon Bernier, 25, and Ricardo Louis, 22, who shared a home on Virginia Avenue in Elmont, were indicted following an investigation that uncovered evidence that the two men trained several pit bulls to fight and permitted the dogs to attack one another. That evidence included a video of the men training dogs, using a “spring-pole” apparatus to strengthen the dogs’ jaw muscles, in the backyard of their home.

Rice said that since as early as May 2010, Bernier and Louis operated a dogfighting enterprise out of the home, training the dogs to fight, pitting them against one another and breeding the strongest dogs so they could sell the puppies on their website, www.BlueMagicPitz.webs.com. Bernier and Louis used the website to advertise pit bulls for sale, to post upcoming breedings between their stock and to post videos of the training, of individual dogs and of litters of puppies. Dogs were offered for sale at an average price of $700.

Much of the website’s content has been removed.

“These two defendants turned animal cruelty into a lucrative business enterprise,” Rice said. “The injuries inflicted on these animals and the suffering they endured is shocking.”

Bernier was arrested by Nassau County 5th Precinct officers on June 11, following a 911 call reporting possible dogfighting at the house. When police arrived and asked Bernier for identification, he jumped over a 6-foot-high fence at the side of the home and ran away. Police apprehended him after a brief chase, and Town of Hempstead Animal Control responded to the residence, along with the NCPD’s Emergency Services Unit.

Animal Control removed nine dogs — eight pit bulls and a German shepherd puppy — from cages in the backyard.
According to police, two of the pit bulls had fresh, bleeding wounds on their faces, several other dogs had scars from older wounds, and the teeth of some of the dogs had been filed to be sharper. All of the marks were indicative of fighting with other animals, according to officers, and four of the dogs’ ears had been clipped, often an indication of dogfighting. Blood was found on the ground as well as on a freestanding basketball hoop used by Bernier and Louis as a “spring-pole” apparatus, police said.

Bernier, who had been ordered by a court in June 2010 not to keep any animals for five years after police found five pit bulls in the backyard of his home — four of which were chained to a tree — was arrested for violating that order and charged with criminal contempt.

An investigation was conducted by the District Attorney’s Animal Cruelty Unit and the 5th Precinct, with assistance from the Town of Hempstead’s Animal Control Department and the ASPCA Blood Sports Division.

Bernier was arraigned on Aug. 5, with bail set at $50,000 bond or $25,000 cash. Louis was indicted and arraigned on July 27. Bail information on his case was not immediately available. They were each charged with four felony counts of fourth-degree animal fighting and conspiracy, two counts of fifth-degree conspiracy and two counts of overdriving, torturing and injuring animals. Bernier was also charged with second-degree criminal contempt.

Both men face up to four years in prison if convicted. They were due back in court on Wednesday.
William Kephart, an attorney who is representing Bernier, said he has not yet reviewed the evidence, but believes that the charges were “way overblown.” The injuries described in the police report from the June incident, he explained, were not necessarily the result of dogfighting.

“You’re talking about pit bulls, which are pretty aggressive animals,” Kephart said. “Dogfighting injuries are more severe in nature … dogfighting would [lead] to some pretty serious injuries. It’s not illegal to own a dog, and it’s not illegal to breed a dog.” He added that neighbors have come forward to defend Bernier and Louis.

Additionally, Kephart said, the D.A.’s evidence doesn’t include bank statements or other proof of profit from the alleged dogfighting. The D.A.’s office declined to comment on whether that information is part of its evidence. “You would think that’s something they would have if this was a dogfighting operation,” Kephart said.

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