Two Brown County residents and one Bartholomew County resident have been sentenced for their roles in a multi-month, multi-agency investigation into cockfighting in Indiana and Kentucky.

Randall Herrin, Mark Herrin and Darina Herrin were chargedone count each of promoting an animal fighting contest and purchasing an animal for use in an animal fighting contest, both Level 6 felonies.

They were arrested on March 28 and birds were seized from a home on Grandview Road on allegations that they were involved in cockfighting.

The Herrins were sentenced on Nov. 26. All three pleaded guilty to purchasing (possessing) an animal for use in an animal fighting contest. The other charge was dismissed and the felonies were entered as Class A misdemeanors, according to online court records.

Mark and Randall Herrin were both sentenced to one year in jail with two days executed. The remainder of their sentence was suspended. Darina Herrin was sentenced to 180 days in jail with two days executed and the remainder suspended. All three received credit for one actual day served.

Mark and Randall Herrin were put on probation for 363 days and were ordered to do 200 hours of community service as part of their probation. Darina Herrin was ordered to serve 178 days on probation with 100 hours of community service.

All three were ordered to pay a joint restitution of $2,780 to the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) as part of their probation.

The Indiana State Police, Indiana Gaming Commission, Indiana Conservation Officers, Kentucky State Police, Bowling Green Kentucky Police, Brown County Sheriff’s Department and undercover officers were all involved in the investigation. The ASCPA and the Indiana State Board of Animal Health also assisted.

Last year, officers conducted surveillance on multiple occasions between December and March near Mark and Darina Herrin’s property at 9113 Grandview Road, according to a probable cause affidavit by Gaming Control Officer Rudy Perez.

Undercover officers also attended a cockfight at property Mark Herrin owns in Morgantown, Kentucky, the report said. Kentucky State Police had received a tip from a nearby resident that cockfighting may be going on and that vehicles from multiple states were there.

The Grandview Road property — which is just inside the Brown-Bartholomew county line — housed “possibly 100 birds,” Perez’s report said. He observed at least one rooster with its comb and wattles removed, which is a common practice for birds used in fighting, he wrote.

Perez wrote that in Indiana, cockfighting is a felony, whereas in Kentucky, it is a misdemeanor.