The long legal saga of a Fluvanna County man who was arrested on animal cruelty and preparing for dogfighting charges is over. Brenton Lemont Mathis (pictured) entered an Alford plea Thursday to a single felony charge that involves dogfighting. A Fluvanna judge gave Mathis a five-year suspended sentence and he must pay $10,000 in restitution to the Fluvanna SPCA. He must also be on supervised probation for two years, and won’t be able to own or take care of dogs for five years.
With his Alford plea, Mathis has not admitted guilt but he has acknowledged there was enough evidence to convict him. He was originally arrested in January 2014.
