JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — A Jacksonville man accused of operating a dogfighting operation has been sentenced more than four years after investigators seized nine dogs from his property and alleged they found evidence of organized dogfighting.
Steven Andre Hoskins, 54, pleaded guilty to one count of fighting or baiting animals as part of a negotiated plea agreement that dismissed three other charges, including aggravated animal cruelty, according to Duval County court records.
The State Attorney’s Office said the plea was negotiated alongside a separate state drug case, resulting in a combined five-year sentence in Florida state prison. In the dogfighting case, the judgment imposed a 30-day county jail sentence with credit for time served. After completing his state sentence, Hoskins also faces up to five additional years in federal prison for violating probation, according to the office.
The dogfighting case began in May 2022, when the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office, Jacksonville Animal Care and Protective Services and the ASPCA executed search warrants at three Jacksonville properties as part of a dogfighting investigation. At Hoskins’ home on Gilchrist Road, investigators said they found nine dogs, four of them tethered by heavy logging chains commonly associated with dogfighting.
Investigators also reported finding a treadmill, weighted collars, weighted vests, veterinary medications and other equipment they believed had been used to train fighting dogs. According to the arrest report, the dogs had no food or clean water available, and some water buckets contained muddy water filled with dead mosquitoes.
Two dogs required immediate veterinary care, investigators wrote. One had “severe scarring consistent with dog fighting” and fresh wounds on its face, while another had extensive scarring and an older injury that resulted in the loss of a front foot, according to the arrest report.
Hoskins initially faced four charges: two counts of fighting or baiting animals, one count of aggravated animal cruelty and one count of confinement of animals without sufficient food, water or exercise. As part of the negotiated plea agreement, prosecutors dismissed all but one count of fighting or baiting animals.
Hoskins denied fighting the dogs, telling investigators he rescued them and planned to rehabilitate them and sell them. ACPS took custody of the nine dogs.
The judgment does not prohibit Hoskins from owning or possessing animals in the future. The State Attorney’s Office told HomeFetch that such restrictions are commonly imposed as conditions of probation, but Hoskins was not placed on probation because he received a prison sentence.
