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Kennel owner sentenced for selling sick dogs

Published September 30th, 2009 | 1 Comments

GREENEVILLE — A Blountville dog kennel owner who sold numerous diseased and genetically deformed dogs over the Internet was sentenced to 71 months in federal prison on Tuesday.

Gina De’Lynn Price was indicted in U.S. District Court in Greeneville in April 2008 on one count each of wire fraud and mail fraud, three counts of lying and concealing information from the Social Security Administration, two counts of filing false income tax returns, and three counts of witness tampering.

The charges stemmed from Price’s dog kennel business, alleging she misrepresented the condition of the dogs she sold, defrauded her customers and lied to federal agencies about her income.

Following a two-week trial in July 2008, Price was found guilty on all but the witness tampering charges. She appeared in federal court Tuesday, and U.S. District Judge Ronnie Greer sentenced her to 71 months in prison on counts one and two; 60 months on counts three through five, and 36 months on counts six and seven.

All of the sentences run concurrently, thus Price will serve five years and 11 months in prison. Greer also sentenced Price to three years of supervised release upon completion of her sentence and ordered her to pay $632,725 in restitution to her victims.

Kingsport attorney Rick Spivey, who represented Price, had argued for a sentencing range of 21 to 27 months in prison and restitution in the amount of $64,000 — the amount of damages claimed by the victims who testified during the trial. Court records state Price has no income, has medical bills, and is in debt to friends and family in the amount of $30,000.

According to prosecutors, from September 2002 until May 2006 Price imported English and French bulldog puppies from Russia and Eastern Europe and sold them to people claiming that they had been born and bred at her East Tennessee facility, Rebel Ridge Kennels.

Some purchasers came to Tennessee to buy the dogs, but most bought them from photographs on Price’s Web site and had the animals shipped to them, court records state.

Prosecutors say many of the puppies had little or no veterinary care and were sold and shipped with genetic and hereditary diseases including heart murmurs, hip dysplasia and cleft palate. Some had to be euthanized by the new owners due to their severe medical issues.

Prosecutors say Price sold nearly 600 puppies during the four-year period for $1,200 to $2,800 apiece and had net receipts in excess of $1 million at the time of her indictment.

Thirty-eight people testified during Price’s trial about the dogs they purchased from Price and the problems they had with the animals. Court records state Price’s victims suffered losses of nearly $600,000, including the cost of the animals and medical expenses in treating the diseased and deformed dogs.

Price, who was on disability at the time, also falsely told the Social Security Administration she had not earned more than $200 or worked more than 40 hours in any month since June 1999.

The witness tampering charges stemmed from Price allegedly attempting to intimidate or persuade three different witnesses to withhold information from the investigation into her business practices.

When victims began complaining about Price and her business practices three to four years ago, Tennessee Attorney General Bob Cooper filed a civil lawsuit against her in May 2007, charging her with violating the state’s Consumer Protection Act.

A temporary restraining order was placed against Price, prohibiting her from selling dogs on her kennel’s Web sites. However, in April 2008, the attorney general’s office filed contempt of court charges against Price for violating the restraining order by advertising dogs for sale on one of her Web sites.

In October, Price was ordered to pay about $6,000 in fines for violating the restraining order.

Sharon Curtis-Flair, a spokeswoman for the attorney general’s office, said this week the office would continue to move the civil lawsuit forward once the criminal matter is resolved.

Curtis-Flair said anyone with information about Price’s activities and whether she is continuing to sell dogs should contact the attorney general’s office at (615) 741-3491.

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How sad also for the people who bought the pets to love. I have bought a sick pet 6 weeks old with parvo and $750 dollars later she survived. It was from an unclean enviroment from her birth. When families get pets they get attached, care for them, they really want them, and in a few short days they start to love them. Almost like a family member they bring them to their own home to be their owner. The new owner most times will do any thing for the new loved pet no matter the cost. When the sick pet looks in the owners eyes for help then what can one do. This is not only bad practice but bad for the families and their children that purchased the new pet to love. However a lot of times unknown problems can occur that the breeder has no knowledge of but that did not seem to be the case. As a pet lover my heart goes out to the families that had to go through this misfortune.

Cat Marks | 9/30/2009 - 11:45 PM - ( Comment

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