Almost every Sunday from the start of the year into the summer, dozens of people gathered at a property on Duffy Street in San Bernardino County, authorities said, frequenting an unlicensed bar and a taco stand.
But the main attraction was gambling on roosters, which federal authorities said were made to fight — sometimes to the death — in an arena while wearing sharp blades known as “gaffs” on their legs.
The last event at the property this past Sunday ended abruptly with the arrests of four Inland Empire residents, who are now charged with involvement in an illicit animal fighting venture.
A nearly yearlong FBI investigation led to the arrests of Isidro Chaparro Sanchez, 59, of Corona; Luis Octavio Angulo, 61, of Rialto; Sergio Jimenez Maldonado, 51, of San Bernardino; and Eva Anilu Pastor Uriostegui, 53, of Moreno Valley, who allegedly organized and ran the cockfighting events in Muscoy, according to the U.S. attorney’s office. Each made an initial court appearance Thursday in Riverside and were ordered released on bond.
Authorities are still searching for Cirilo Esquivel Alcantar, 56, of San Bernardino, who also is charged with involvement in the cockfights. Court records do not indicate whether any of those facing charges have retained attorneys.
The FBI had been investigating the cockfighting enterprise since May 2023, C.J. Sanders, a special agent for the bureau, said in an affidavit filed in federal court. Sanders said two confidential sources infiltrated events during cockfighting “season,” which typically runs from January to August.
Attendees would pay $20 to park at a lot less than a mile from the property and be shuttled to the home on Duffy Street, where they would pay another fee to enter the arena where the fights unfolded, according to Sanders. They were able to place bets on fights and participate in a raffles, with a set of gaffs offered as the prize.
Among those arrested, authorities say Sanchez made the property available for the fights, collected entry fees and made announcements during events; Alcantar made a lot available for attendee parking; Uriostegui collected entry fees and served drinks at the bar; Angulo collected the entry fees from handlers entering their roosters; and Maldonado refereed the fights.
One of the FBI’s confidential sources, who is unnamed in the affidavit, reported arriving at the property around 7:20 a.m. on a Sunday in May 2023. A video recording the source took captured a taco stand — with the sign “RICOS TACOS ESTILO RANCHO” above it — at the entrance to the arena and a bar inside where attendees could buy drinks, according to the affidavit.
Handlers were charged $1,000 to enter four roosters in the fights. They brought the birds into a fighting ring surrounded by chairs with a hard-packed dirt floor enclosed by plywood, according to Sanders.
The confidential source reported hearing that the hosts at the property profited about $80,000 to $90,000 per month.
A second confidential source placed a recorded call to a man who said he owns about 100 roosters, which he brought to California from Texas, according to the affidavit.
Another person involved in the cockfights told that source that he and and another individual purchased their fighting roosters from Oklahoma and they were shipped to California by plane.
The second confidential source reported he was told the cockfighting had started at the property in 2022.
If those charged are convicted, each could face up to five years in prison. They are set to be arraigned on Sept. 3.