GAINESVILLE, Florida — A Gainesville man who, according to court documents, sent another person a video of two dogs fighting and attended a dogfight at a co-defendant's property has pleaded guilty in federal court to conspiring to violate the Animal Welfare Act. Terry Lee, 43, entered the plea in the Northern District of Florida, United States Attorney John P. Heekin announced on Thursday, November 5.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Northern District of Florida
Court documents say Lee conspired with others to possess, sell and receive dogs for the purpose of having the dogs take part in animal fighting ventures. On May 23, 2024, Lee used a social media platform to send another individual a video of two dogs fighting, and on or before June 6, 2024, he attended a dogfight held at a property controlled by a co-defendant, Main Street Daily News reported from the same federal release and court filings.
Source: Main Street Daily News
One plea out of a six-man indictment
Lee's plea grows out of a wider case. On September 14, 2026, a federal grand jury in the Northern District of Florida indicted six Gainesville men — Taurean Jaquan Servance, 24; Jarrett Abram Servance, 45; Jarrett Abram Servance Jr., 25; Terry Lajace Lee; Christopher Eugene Thompson, 56; and Clinton Thomas, 43 — on charges of conspiracy to violate the Animal Welfare Act, the U.S. Attorney's Office announced at the time. A jury trial for the defendants in that case had been scheduled for October 21, 2026, before Chief District Judge Allen C. Winsor in Gainesville.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice — September 2026 indictment release
Thursday's announcement covers Lee's plea only; the Justice Department release does not state the current position of the other five men's cases, and they remain entitled to the presumption of innocence. A guilty plea, unlike an indictment, is an admission: by pleading guilty to the conspiracy count, Lee accepted the government's account that he took part in an agreement to keep and move dogs for fighting.
What the law prohibits, and who investigated
The federal Animal Welfare Act makes it a crime to take part in an animal fighting venture — including conspiring to possess, sell or receive animals so that they can be fought. In this case, the maximum penalty for the conspiracy count is five years in federal prison, followed by up to three years of supervised release.
The case was investigated jointly by the United States Department of Agriculture's Office of Inspector General, the Gainesville Police Department, the Alachua County Sheriff's Office and Alachua County Animal Resources — the county service that cares for seized and stray animals in the Gainesville area. Assistant United States Attorney Adam Hapner is prosecuting the case.
What happens next
Lee is scheduled to be sentenced on January 26, 2027, at 1:30 p.m. at the United States Courthouse in Gainesville before Chief United States District Judge Allen C. Winsor, who will decide the actual term within the five-year maximum after considering the plea, the facts admitted and the federal sentencing guidelines. There is no parole in the federal prison system.
Dog fighting is investigated federally because organised fighting ventures cross county and state lines — dogs are bred, sold, transported and fought for gambling — and because the same investigations regularly uncover guns and drugs, as in recent multi-defendant cases in Georgia and South Carolina. In Alachua County, animal-resources officers are part of the team, because the dogs at the centre of these cases are treated in law as victims, not evidence to be destroyed.
For Gainesville and Alachua County residents, the practical point is reporting: federal and county investigators built this case over more than two years, from a video shared in May 2024 to an indictment in September 2026 and a guilty plea this week. Suspected animal fighting in the county can be reported to Alachua County Animal Resources or the Gainesville Police Department, and Lee's sentencing on January 26 will show what a federal court treats as the price of taking part.