OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) -- A former deputy sheriff has pleaded guilty to conducting an interstate cockfighting operation in southwestern Oklahoma.
Federal court records indicate 67-year-old Douglas Wayne Butler pleaded guilty on Monday to aiding and abetting cockfighting and the possession of gamecocks.
Prosecutors allege Butler conducted about a dozen "cockfighting derbies" on Indian land in Caddo County in 2015 and 2016. A former deputy sheriff and member of the Caddo Nation, Butler is accused of earning thousands of dollars from events each attended by up to 200 people from as far away as Nebraska, Arkansas, New Mexico, Arizona and Colorado.
His attorney, Irven Box, said Wednesday that Butler "fully believed" he was following the law by conducting the events on Indian land.
Butler faces up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
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