NFL Veteran Cut from Team, Sentenced to Hard Labor for Animal Cruelty Convictions
A defensive lineman who was most recently part of the Kansas City Chiefs has been sentenced to hard labor after being convicted of animal cruelty.
Isaiah Buggs, who played football for Alabama, was convicted of two misdemeanor animal cruelty charges on July 19, according to AL.com.
Buggs was sentenced to 365 days of hard labor in Tuscaloosa County by Tuscaloosa County District Judge Joanne Jannik.
She said 60 days of the sentence must be served, with the rest suspended for two years pending “the behavior of the defendant.”
The judge ordered Buggs not have guns, cats or dogs.
Buggs is appealing the conviction.
According to WBRC, the 60 days of hard labor sentence is temporarily on hold while Buggs appeals the conviction.
Former Kansas City Chiefs defensive lineman Isaiah Buggs has been convicted on two counts of misdemeanor animal cruelty charges. https://t.co/hhJFqerYBH
— WTVY News 4 (@WTVYNews4) July 26, 2024
The incident that led to Buggs’s conviction took place in March, when City of Tuscaloosa Animal Control officers found a feces-covered pit bull in an enclosed porch, according to AL.com. A black rottweiler mix was found locked in a metal cage placed in direct sunlight with no way to get food or water.
The animals were “severely malnourished, emaciated, neglected,” officials said, with the rottweiler weighing 52 pounds, well below what experts said was normal. The pit bull was later euthanized due to aggressive behavior and a failed heartworm treatment.
Buggs had rented the house, but left it on March 19, nine days before the animals were found.
Buggs’ agent, Trey Robinson, has previously said the dogs did not belong to Buggs.
He also said Buggs did not know they were at the property.
Robinson has said Buggs “vehemently denies the truthfulness of the allegations and charges asserted against him.”
Buggs was arrested in June.
According to WBRC, at that time Buggs was cut by the Chiefs.
Buggs had been drafted by the Pittsburgh Steelers. After three years in Pittsburgh he played two years with the Detroit Lions before joining the Chiefs’ practice squad.
According to KFVS-TV, Buggs also faces domestic violence charges in connection to an incident in which a woman was dragged down some stairs.
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