(Beth Clifton collage)
Will community service sentence see Devore picking up trash?
EUFAULA, Oklahoma––Anthony Devore, 54, former president of the now legally dissolved Oklahoma Gamefowl Commission, was on April 6, 2026 convicted of being a spectator, a misdemeanor, at a June 8, 2024 cockfight illegally held on the Cherokee Nation.
After initially pleading “not guilty,” DeVore switched his plea to “no contest” to the charge, originating from undercover and drone video obtained by Animal Wellness Action and Showing Animals Respect & Kindness, but not actually filed until September 8, 2025.
(See Anthony Devore: “Shocked, shocked” to find cockfighting at a cockfight?)
Brendon Bridges, an associate district judge for the McIntosh County District Court in Eufala, Oklahoma, first elected in November 6, 2018, sentenced Devore to perform 20 hours of unpaid community service, fined him $100, and suspended a six-month jail term, conditional on good behavior.
(Animal Wellness Action photo)
May seek expungement, but that will not change history
Devore’s attorney, Billy Coyle of Oklahoma City, told Anna Pope of KOSU radio that upon completing the six-month suspended sentence, Devore will apply to have the conviction expunged.
Crowed Coyle, “I think in his heart, he still believes what he did is not a crime. I think he probably was raised on rooster dueling for his entire life and doesn’t believe that the government should be involved in criminal prosecutions of something that a lot of people enjoy and take pride in. But at the same time, I think he wanted to put it behind him.”
Devore, of Caddo, Oklahoma, is seeking election in November 2026 to the seat in the state house of representatives held since 2016 by Justin Humphrey of Atoka.
Both are Republicans. Humphrey is now running for lieutenant governor.
Known by the company they keep
“During his time as representative,” recounted Pope, “Humphrey authored measures to reduce the penalties for cockfighting, which is a felony in the state.”
Humphrey also pursued legislation to start a hunting season for the mythical Bigfoot, also known as Sasquatch, and to start a state-run blood bank to provide vaccine-free blood to anti-vaxxers.
Denying involvement in cockfighting, “The Oklahoma Gamefowl Commission has repeatedly advocated for a reduction in penalties, saying it wanted to defend members’ rights to raise roosters,” Pope continued.
Along with Devore, now convicted of attending a cockfight, the other Oklahoma Gamefowl Commission cofounder, Blake Pearce, was also documentedly present at the McIntosh County cockfight, Oklahoma Humane Forum administrator Kevin Chambers told ANIMALS 24-7.
(See Anthony Devore: “Shocked, shocked” to find cockfighting at a cockfight?)
“Remember that judges & district attorneys are elected”
Disappointed in the light sentence given to Devore, Chambers commented, “Prosecutors and judges must do better. The reason Oklahoma has a severe animal cruelty problem is that many do not take animal abuse seriously. Some do, and we support them. Remember,” Chambers reminded fellow Oklahomans, “that judges and district attorneys are elected in most cases.
“Note that lawyer Billy Coyle,” Chambers added, “has defended numerous cockfighters and dogfighters in Oklahoma. He’s their go-to guy.”
Actually “commissioned” by nobody, and never any sort of official Oklahoma state-sanctioned entity, the Oklahoma Gamefowl Commission was fined $10,000 and ordered to dissolve “following a settlement with the [state] Ethics Commission for violating state rules governing contributions,” reported Emma Murphy for Oklahoma Voice on September 17, 2025.
(See OK Gamefowl Commission dissolved, top cock Devore criminally charged.)
“The committee must dissolve within 30 days and cannot form a new affiliated political action committee for two years,” Murphy added.
(Beth Clifton collage)
Anonymous contributions above legal limit
Detailed Murphy, “The political action committee admitted to accepting anonymous contributions above the legal limit, failing to collect the required contact information of contributors, spending funds outside the committee’s purpose, accepting prohibited corporate contributions, and failing to maintain accurate records.”
Devore, while claiming a master’s degree in criminal justice and a doctorate in education, previously ran an Ardmore solar energy contracting business called Texoma Solar Solutions.
“According to information in BBB files, this business is no longer in business,” says the Better Business Bureau report on Texoma Solar Solutions.
No sunshine on solar business
“BBB files indicate that this business has a pattern of complaints concerning customer service and repair issues,” the report continues, including 34 separate sets of unresolved consumer grievances.
Multiple lawsuits reportedly pending against Devore in connection with his solar installation business either never went to trial, were dropped, or were settled out of court.
“On April 3, 2023,” the report mention, “the Better Business Bureau submitted a written request to the business encouraging them to address the pattern of complaints. The BBB is awaiting a response from the business.”
Three years later the Better Business Bureau is apparently still waiting.
The Better Business Bureau page on Texoma Solar Solutions mentions that Devore also appears to have done business as Sunset Solar & Electric Power, LLC.
Eight alleged cockfighters busted in Texas
While Devore awaited his court date in Oklahoma, a string of apparently unrelated cockfighting busts occurred in Arizona, Texas, and New Mexico.
On April 4, 2026, Maricopa County, Arizona sheriff’s deputies impounded 157 live roosters, $18,000 in cash, a dry-erase board displaying bets, four handguns, an AR-15 rifle, and cockfighting gaffs from a property in the Rainbow Valley area, near Buckeye, Alexis Cortez reported for AZ Family.
“When deputies arrived, they witnessed the cockfights firsthand and saw several people fleeing,” Cortez recounted. “Authorities say some people crashed through fences, and others were running away from the scene.”
Arrested were suspects identified as Abraham Casas, 18; Jesus Hernandez, 49; Andy Vergara, 40; Edgar DeLeon, 53; Jose Rodriguez-Martinez, 39; Martín Fernández-Holguín, 58; Jesus Hernandez III, 25; and Serafín Ayala-Ibarra, 55.
Recalled Cortez, “This is the second cockfighting ring busted by Maricopa County deputies this year. In January, deputies arrested an alleged ringleader and two others for reportedly taking part and organizing a cockfight at a property in Tonopah. Then, a fourth person was arrested, and witnesses reported that she was paid off to allow it to happen.”
(See Cockfighters as well as New England Patriots lost big on Super Sunday.)
Alleged New Mexico perp may be deported
One suspect, alleged illegal immigrant Ernesto Roacha Ramirez, “was arrested and charged with cockfighting and cruelty to livestock, both felonies,” reported Paul Wedding for WFAA television news in Dallas, Texas, a week after the Parker County Sheriff’s Office and animal control officers responded to a call for an animal welfare check on March 23, 2026.
“Deputies reportedly saw several dead and partially burned chicken carcasses in a burn barrel on the property, officials said. They also reported seeing several wounded chickens with injuries suggestive of cockfighting,” Wedding explained.
“They also reportedly found injured birds who had been ‘live plucked,’ meaning their feathers were ripped from their breasts and legs, and shaved from their backs.
“More than 200 chicken coops were found, officials said, many of them filled with dead birds. Investigators also reportedly found several bottles of injectable steroids,” Wedding detailed.
Twenty-eight roosters and 14 hens were impounded immediately.
“An additional 359 birds were seized on April 2, 2026, officials said,” Wedding continued.
In addition, Wedding said, “An ICE detainer was also placed on Ramirez pending a deportation hearing.”
“More than 100 people” nabbed in New Mexico
While the Texas case was underway, “More than 100 people were detained” after being found at a March 28, 2026 cockfight in Chaves County, New Mexico, undersheriff Charles Yslas told Monica Logroño of KOB television news in Albuquerque.
“At least three people are considered primary suspects,” Logroño summarized. “But even if some of the other detainees were spectators, they could face jail time under New Mexico law.
“The sheriff’s office said about twenty suspects did try to flee but said they were able to catch them all. Yslas said detectives seized electronics like laptops and hard drives, ledgers, safes, documents, roosters and cockfighting equipment,” Logroño added.
Roswell bust followed “El Gallo Show”
Updated Albuquerque Journal staff writer Algernon D’Ammassa a day later, “No suspects have been officially named, although three were said to be primary suspects, with one described as ‘a local business owner (who) deals in the organization of events and renting venues.’
“From photographs released by the sheriff’s office,” D’Ammassa continued, “the location of the operation was the Anaya Trinity Ranch, which is listed on Airbnb for guest rentals. The ranch did not respond to a query from the Journal and an associated business hung up after dialing a reporter one minute later.
“One week before the Roswell event, on March 21, 2026,” D’Ammassa noted, “the El Gallo Show — a traveling trade and exhibit show featuring rooster breeders and vendors selling decorative gaff holsters, ointments, supplements and items associated with cockfighting — was held at the Corral Arena in Hobbs.
“The popular exhibition is organized by KC Ranch of Texas,” D’Ammassa said. “Founder Katalina Carvente maintains the show is not involved in illegal cockfighting and caters to animal husbandry, breeders preserving genetic lines, and collectors.”
Which is exactly what the Oklahoma Gamefowl Commission claimed to be doing, before Anthony Devore and Blake Pearce were videotaped at a cockfight.
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It is true that many forms of historically accepted social entertainments involving unconscionable cruelty to the victimized sentient animals mercilessly involved such as bear-baiting and dancing bears as well as dog fighting and cockfighting existed and some still hold some cultures in thrall, but thankfully, over the years, these abhorrent activities have become outlawed.
With the general public becoming more educated as to the harms these ‘entertainment/sports’ have to the animals and culture and with more becoming concerned about the value of protecting and respecting our stressed environment and its flora and fauna, these are ceasing to be acceptable.
They will retain a hold on certain pockets of low-information persons and certain cultures, and hopefully younger members of those will find other activities more to their liking.
These vicious ‘sports’ belong in the distant past and we must continue to demand that of our law enforcement and governmental bodies.
Sick, corrupt and depraved.
Sharing with gratitude and so much more.