A Palatka man arrested in May after deputies said they found a dog with a chain embedded in her neck has been sentenced to 60 days in jail and three years probation after pleading no contest to animal cruelty charges, court records show.
Marcel Plowden, 40, withdrew his not guilty plea Oct. 6 and pleaded no contest to one count of aggravated animal cruelty, a third-degree felony, and four counts of animal abandonment, each a first-degree misdemeanor, according to court minutes.
Circuit Judge Alicia R. Washington accepted the plea and sentenced him the same day, according to court records. The court’s order of probation shows Washington adjudicated Plowden guilty on all five counts, giving him a felony conviction.
On the felony count, Plowden was sentenced to three years of probation, with the first 60 days to be served in the Putnam County Jail, according to the order. He received credit for the 23 days he had already spent in jail, and on each misdemeanor count, he was sentenced to time served.
Prosecutors recommended that sentence as part of the plea agreement, according to the plea form Plowden signed.
The order, filed Wednesday, bars Plowden from owning or possessing any pets in his household while on probation but allows him to ask the court to end that probation after 18 months, half of his three-year term.
He also must pay $765 in court costs and fees, plus $55 a month toward the cost of his supervision, the order states.
Plowden was in custody at the Putnam County Jail when he entered his plea, court minutes show. He was scheduled to appear in court Sept. 10 but did not, and the court issused arrest warrant with no bond.
In a handwritten letter to Washington filed Sept. 11 with the Putnam County Clerk of Court on Sept. 11, Plowden apologized for missing his court date, writing that his absence was due to his wife’s health problems and asked the judge to reschedule.
A report of his rearrest was filed with the court Sept. 16.
DIG DEEPER: HOW THE CASE BEGAN
The charges Plowden was convicted of differ from those he faced at his arrest. The Putnam County Sheriff’s Office originally charged Plowden with aggravated animal cruelty and animal abandonment, including one count under Trooper’s Law, the agency said at the time. The 2025 state law makes it a third-degree felony to restrain a dog outside during a natural disaster and then abandon it.
Prosecutors later dropped the Trooper’s Law charge, and instead filed four counts of misdemeanor animal abandonment, court records show.
Under Dexter’s Law, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement must post Plowden’s name in its public animal cruelty database because he pleaded no contest to aggravated animal cruelty.
Deputies were called May 14 to a home on Washington Street in Palatka, where they found five dogs living in “deplorable conditions,” including one with a chain embedded in her neck that veterinary staff had to remove surgically, the sheriff’s office said.
“If you ever have a case where you suspect animal cruelty or neglect, please call the sheriff’s office and Putnam County Animal Services and report it so that we can take action so that this doesn’t happen again,” Sheriff Gator DeLoach said in a video statement after the arrest.
The other four dogs were taken to animal control and treated for dehydration and other symptoms of neglect, the sheriff’s office said at the time.
