Served four-months jail
Oklahoma officials released convicted horse abuser Robert Dimitt from jail Thursday.
Sequoyah County District Judge Jeff Payton granted the defendant’s motion for an early release during his 120-day judicial review despite the prosecution’s objection.
The judge noted he received more than 50 emails opposing Dimitt’s change of sentence.
Prior to the judge’s ruling, Dimitt’s attorney told the court about his client’s good behavior during his time in jail. An Arkansas masonry operation also offered Dimitt a $15 hourly wage and temporary living accommodations upon his release.
Assistant District Attorney Stacey Slaughter asked the judge to require Dimitt to wear an electronic ankle monitor. Judge Payton denied her request.
Charlotte Northam, of Ada, is the agent for Kentucky racehorse owner Edward D. Leslie, MD. “I feel like they had this cooked up. There were red flags during the proceedings.”
The Department of Corrections is now responsible for Dimitt as he begins serving a 15-year probation sentence in Arkansas. Dimitt is to have no contact with horses while he is on probation.
If Dimitt breaks the stipulation he faces incarceration for the remainder of his sentence – if caught.
Northam adds, “I don’t think he’ll be able to stay away from training horses.”
No stranger to breaking the rules, Dimitt’s doping suspensions left him without a racing license in Oklahoma and New Mexico. Dimitt used Ty Blackwell and Tana Pace as trainers of record to race customers’ American Quarter Horses while cutting on the horses’ feet.
Sequoyah County deputies arrested Dimitt in August 2015. The prosecution charged Dimitt with 5 felony counts of animal cruelty. Dimitt cut the frogs out of horses’ hooves including Gold Digging Ashley, Awesome Ashley, and Ashley’s Freight Train to “make them run faster”.
Dimitt pleaded no contest to the charges in February 2017.
Judge Payton sentenced him a month later to five-years in prison for the torturous death of the horses.
“No justice was served…” Northam adds.
View Case – update – Robert Dimitt is serving probation in Oklahoma
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