A jury on Wednesday found Jorge Garcia guilty on four counts of misdemeanor animal cruelty following a raid at a farm in Loxahatchee last October.
The jury lessened two of the charges to misdemeanors from felonies.
“Listen, this is great for ARM's current and future investigations,” said Richard Couto, the founder of the Animal Recovery Mission.
ARM said the verdict was a victory. The group went undercover with hidden cameras at this farm at two others.
That hidden camera video was the state's key piece of evidence and showed workers at Rancho Garcia hanging goats upside down and cutting their necks.
Prosecutors say the video shows the animals suffering and that the slaughters were inhumane.
“Knowing that our evidence will stand up in a court of law, we will be upping undercover operations in Palm Beach County," said Couto.
Meanwhile the defense says the jury probably had difficulty coming to this decision.
"It’s obvious for the amount of time that the jury had the case that there was a hold out,” said Andrew Stine, Garcia’s defense attorney.
Stine said that’s why the jury convicted Garcia of lesser charges instead of the felony animal cruelty charges he was originally facing.
“I think that the jury decided that instead of having a hung decision…I think they decided to go with, 'We'll find him guilty of something,' and they found him guilty of only misdemeanors.”
During the raid, Garcia was one of six people taken into custody that resulted in the seizure of 750 animals.
The animals seized include goats, pigs, cattle, numerous species of birds, dogs, cats and fighting roosters, the sheriff's office said. There were also accusations that horses were being butchered for their meat.
The ARM investigation also accused employees at this farm and two others of running an illegal horse meat operation.
Garcia was not charged in the horse meat case, however one of his employees is and that case is pending.
The defense says it plans to appeal the judge’s decision to allow use of the video in this case. The defense tried unsuccessfully to get that video thrown out, saying it was filmed illegally.
Garcia was taken into custody after the verdict. Sentencing is scheduled to begin April 26.
Jury finds Jorge Garcia guilty on four counts of misdemeanor animal cruelty charges @WPTV
— Alyssa Hyman (@AlyssaHymanWPTV) March 30, 2016
Defendant taken into custody. Sentencing postponed until next month @WPTV
— Alyssa Hyman (@AlyssaHymanWPTV) March 30, 2016
