LAKE COUNTY, Fla. — Squawking and crowing could be heard well before you walked up to the loading bay door.
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The loud racket is typical for storing hundreds of roosters and hens in close confinement. Peering through the building’s narrow window, one could see rows of cages, each with its feathered tenant pacing back and forth.
The only other items visible were water and a wheelbarrow full of straw bedding.
The location was not a farm or a warehouse but a loading bay inside the Lake Square Mall. The government didn’t want the scene filmed, and six months later, it refuses to explain what led to the chickens being housed there.
Multiple sources familiar with the operation say the chickens came from a series of cockfighting raids conducted by deputies in the late spring and early summer.
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They estimated that more than half a dozen busts resulted in the seizure of 500 chickens and thousands of knives and other items related to the outlawed practice. As of mid-December, though, only one of the nearly one dozen suspected ringleaders had been arrested.
Court records show it happened by accident. Two unsuspecting deputies were called to Heinrich Gonzalez Muller’s property in April for a 911 hangup.
When they arrived, they found upwards of 50 Hispanic men and a fight in progress, documents said. The men fled, throwing chickens into their vehicles and speeding off in different directions, overwhelming the deputies.
Prosecutors initially charged Muller with more than 100 counts of animal cruelty. All but two charges have since dropped.
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He will likely face no more than five years in prison if convicted.
Muller’s attorney declined to comment for this story.
It’s not clear why other arrests weren’t made. Lake County deputies originally had the case, but state and federal investigators swooped in and assumed control after the investigation crossed county lines.
WFTV’s sources said the cockfighting ring also had ties to Mexico.
FDLE has never responded to a request for comment about the case. However, the Attorney General’s office acknowledged it in a quick response to WFTV’s request in December.
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“The Office of Statewide Prosecution has an active case, and we cannot comment further at this time,” spokesman Chase Sizemore wrote.
Since the raids, the state ordered every chicken and egg seized in the busts euthanized, and the Lake Square Mall is devoid of the commotion that once harbored in its walls.
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