In a case that has rattled rural Oklahoma and drawn national attention from animal welfare advocates, former McIntosh County SheriffJeffColemanhasbeen formally charged with felony animal cruelty in connection with organizing an illegal cockfighting derby on his property.
Court filings and statements from prosecutors allege that undercover video evidence, obtained by investigators from the animalprotection group Animal Wellness Action, shows Coleman collecting money and issuing announcements at a staged cockfight that took place in McIntosh County in June 2025.
Coleman, who served as the county’s top law enforcement officer in the early 2000s, now faces serious felony charges after the Cherokee Nation Attorney General’s Office brought the case forward using evidence from the undercover operation. In addition to Coleman’s charges, two leaders of the now-disbanded Oklahoma Game Fowl Commission, Anthony Devore and Blake Pearce, were previously charged in misdemeanor cockfighting counts arising from the same events.
Officials said the alleged cockfighting operation violated both state and federal anti-cruelty laws. Cockfighting, a blood sport in which specially bred roosters, often fitted with knives or sharp gaffs on their legs, are forced to fight until one dies or is incapacitated, is illegal in all 50 states and under federal statute, which makes organizing or participating in such fights a felony offense.
The charges stem from a broader investigation by Animal Wellness Action, a Washington, D.C.–based 501(c)(4) animal advocacy organization dedicated to promotingandenforcinglaws against cruelty to animals. Founded in 2018 by longtime animalwelfareleaderWayne Pacelle, the group works on federal, state and local levels to strengthen legal protections for animals, including bolstering enforcement of bans on animal fighting and pushing for legislation like the federal FIGHT Act, which aims to enhance penalties and enforcement tools against unlawful animal fighting activities.
Animal Wellness Action investigators have long documented illegal cockfighting operations in Oklahoma and beyond, often highlighting not just cruelty to animals but also the connections of staged animal fights to gambling, drug activity and other crimes. The group’s work has helped spur several high-profile busts and prosecutions in recent years.
Cockfighting is just one of several blood-sport practices outlawed across the United States and in many other countries. Dogfighting, where dogs, typically pit-bull breeds, are forced to fight for entertainment and betting, is universally banned and treated as a felony in all 50 states under both state and federal law.
Bull-baiting and bearbaiting, in which dogs are set upon a tethered bull or bear, have long been prohibited, and other staged animal fights, such as cockon- cock matches with weapons attached, are similarly criminalized under modern cruelty statutes. As Coleman’s case moves through the courts, advocates and law enforcement officials alike say it underscores the law’s reach, even into corners of rural America where such practices have persisted in defiance of statute, and even when allegedly sanctioned by those once entrusted with upholding the law.