It’s been a few days since the Mayor of Sipsey got rid of his town's police department. Now he addresses residents’ concerns about illegal rooster fighting.
We asked Mayor Saddler if he was involved in rooster fighting. "Yeah, I go to the Philippines I am not going to lie about that. That’s all I’ve ever done all my life. That’s all I know it’s my income. I got the best in the world. I turned down $5,000 for one hen and she stays in my house every night. I’ll show it to you one of these days if you go at my house," Saddler states.
"Are you legally allowed to do that here?" WBRC FOX6 News reporter Hannah Ward asked. "Yeah, it’s legal. There ain’t no laws against it," Saddler responds.
We asked Tommy Spina, a criminal defense attorney, to look at the interview. "Watching the mayor’s comments, I believe he’s admitted to at least a federal crime. If I were his defense lawyer I would be troubled by that statement," Spina said.
Spina says the law in question is U.S. code 2156, which states that "buying, selling, delivering, possessing, training, or transporting animals for participation in animal fighting is unlawful."
We found several roosters roaming at Saddler’s home. Last week, Saddler told us, "I have people come over here from the Philippines and Guam and everywhere else and they are buying roosters from me and I ship them back from here to California and another friend out there ships them to the Philippines and all over the world. I sell to everybody," Saddler states.
Defense attorney Spina says transporting roosters for fighting across state lines is also illegal. "It makes it a felony to utilize any sort of interstate shipment or possession of an animal that is raised for the purpose of fighting the punishment has a statutory maximum of five years in prison," he explains.
Along with the federal violations, Spina says Saddler could also be breaking state laws. "It seems to me the possession of that animal for purposes of engaging it in some type of gambling activity could under the jurisdiction gambling statute," he explains.
Spina says that it appears he is not breaking any other state laws because it is only illegal to fight the roosters in Alabama – not raise them. "You know, obviously the mayor sees no problem with it on a moral level," Spina states.
It's important to point out mayor Saddler has not been charged with any crime in connection with the roosters on his property. Both the FBI and the US Attorney's Office are both aware of the WBRC FOX6 News interview with Mayor Saddler but haven't confirmed whether there is an investigation.
We reached out to Mayor Saddler again to give him a chance to respond, and we were unable to get in touch with him before this story posted, but will continue to reach out to him.
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