Property owner, South MS cockfight operators face federal charges after arrests
A Harrison County property owner who hosted cockfights with others is facing federal charges of conspiracy to violate the Animal Welfare Act along with some of his employees there.
According to the charging documents, James Joseph Riviere Jr. owned the property on Northup Cuevas Road, and he and others who lived there, namely Alvin Smith III and Herbert Kasey Smith, hosted the deadly cockfighting matches every other Saturday.
An undercover investigation ultimately led to the discovery of the illegal cockfighting matches that lured cockfighting enthusiasts from Louisiana and other states to come to Mississippi to enter their own roosters in the fights.
The owner charged an entry fee to attend the fights, and people bet on the fights, which ended with the death of one of the roosters.
In addition to Riviere and the other two men who lived on the property, others employed to work the fights are facing federal charges of conspiracy to violate the Animal Welfare Act.
That includes Rachel Reddoch, identified in the charging documents as a cashier who accepted the payments to attend and participate in the cockfights, and the referee for the fights, identified as Louis Summers Jr. They, too, along with Tammie Cuevas, who identified herself to federal authorities as the property owner’s sister-in-law who worked the concession stand during the fights, are each facing conspiracy charges as well.
Those arrests, along with the arrests of others from Mississippi and Louisiana and the arrests of other undocumented immigrants, followed an undercover investigation by Homeland Security Investigations.
HSI launched the investigation in April after investigators received a tip about illegal cockfighting going on at the address in Harrison County.
During the investigation, authorities equipped an informant with audio and video cameras so the individual could record what was happening on the property for investigators.
In the recording, the federal agents saw roosters with knives or gaffs attached to their legs and placed in the arena to fight for their lives.
Most of those arrested are facing a federal charge of violating the Animal Welfare Act, but other undocumented immigrants picked up during the raid are facing immigration violations.
Here’s a look at other arrests in the raid in May:
- James Benjamin Bice and Jackie Lamar Bice: a pair from Louisiana who brought 12 gamecocks to participate in the fights for $2,500. In a post-arrest interview, Jackie Bice told authorities he had been fighting gamecocks for 60 years, the charging document says. The pair had backed up a truck and trailer to the cockfighting arena in Harrison County to fight their roosters.
- Alan Alexis Mondragon Talavera: a man believed to be a Mexican national who attempted to run from authorities when they raided the property in Harrison County. He paid to attend the cockfights.
- Oscar De Leon Martinez: a Mexican national charged with an immigration violation for illegal reentry and an additional charge for violating the Animal Welfare Act. Authorities found a rooster he brought to take part in a fight in his trailer on the property.
- Victor Fricke: a man who brought a rooster to take part in a fight.
- Brett Lester and Loraine Violet Tai, a pair from Louisiana, admitted bringing roosters to Mississippi to fight. Lester said he had three roosters on him to fight over the weekend. Tai admitted helping Lester on his farm in Louisiana, where he had about 100 chickens. On the night of the raid, Tai had $4,000 in cash and admitted bringing the money to place bets.
Shane Cuevas: an out-of-state man who admitted having previous convictions related to cockfighting. He told authorities he gave his brother money to enter three gamecocks into a fight and one was found dead in the back of his truck.
In the United States, it is against the law for anyone to buy, sell, possess, transport, deliver or receive an animal to have them participate in animal fighting. Under federal law, animal fighting is any event that involves a fight between at least two animals for sports, gambling, or entertainment.
This story was originally published May 6, 2025 at 5:05 PM.
