Federal authorities are cracking down on a cockfighting ring in Eastern Kentucky.
Three eastern Kentuckians and two Virginia residents have been charged in federal court with conducting cockfights that drew people from eight states to a pit in eastern Kentucky.
U.S. Attorney Timothy J. Heaphy of the Western District of Virginia said in a news release Monday the five were charged with conspiring to operate an illegal gambling enterprise and illegally conduct cockfights at the Big Blue Sportsmen's Club in McDowell, Kentucky.
Those charged are 51-year-old Walter Dale Stumbo, 51-year-old Sonya Stumbo and 25-year-old Joshua Stumbo of Floyd County, Kentucky; and 57-year-old Wesley Dean Robinson and 33-year-old Jonathan Robinson of Wise County, Virginia.
They were released on bond.
Prosecutors allege people traveled from Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Michigan, Ohio, West Virginia, Maryland and Georgia for fight weekends.