UPDATE: Department of Homeland Security Officials say three of the alleged finch fighters were detained at Derby Superior Court Tuesday.
The Shelton “finch-fighters” — 19 men arrested on gambling and animal cruelty charges — were back in Derby Superior Court Tuesday to hand in applications for the accelerated rehabilitation program, a form of probation which could wipe their records clean if successfully completed.
But the attorney for at least one of those men immediately withdrew the application Tuesday after his client was detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
That man, Lucas Chaves Dos Santos, was one of three picked up by ICE officials Tuesday. ICE is a part of the Department of Homeland Security.
Department of Homeland Security spokeswoman Paula Grenier would not release the names of the other men detained.
A fourth man — Brazil native Gilson Goncalves — had already been detained by the federal agency immediately following the July 26 raid on the Ripton Road home where the finch fights were allegedly taking place. Grenier said Goncalves has been released from custody while his federal case works its way through the courts.
(Click here to read about the arrests. Click here to see our latest story on how the birds are recovering from their injuries.)
The cases of most the remaining men were continued to Sept .29, when the judge will determine if each one qualifies for accelerated rehabilitation. Applicants must have no previous criminal record to qualify.
Not all the men applied for the accelerated rehabilitation program. For example, Jurames Goulart, who owns the Ripton Road home where the fighting was allegedly taking place, did not apply for the program Tuesday, court records indicate. His case was continued until Oct. 1.
And Lucas Chaves Dos Santos entered a not-guilty plea through his attorney, and will appear in court on Sept. 29 with the other accused men.
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Over the next couple weeks, each attorney must contact the Shelton Police Department to give its representatives a chance to object to the program being granted.
Several private attorneys have been hired by the 19 men. After the hearing, some of the attorneys said they expected their clients to be accepted into the program.
At the next court date “in front of the judge, we’ll state why they will be good candidates,” said attorney Michael S. McGetrick, based in Danbury.
He represents Ricard Almeida, Waldiney Almeida and Rogerio Decarvalho, who he said have clean records.
Defendants pay a $35 fee to apply to the program, and a $100 fee once they are accepted. Once in the program, defendants are placed on probation for up to two years.
If they complete the program and have no new arrests during that probation period, the charges are dropped.
If they fail to complete the program or if they are arrested again during the probation period, the original charges are reinstated.
Edward Gavin, based in Bridgeport, said he believes Judge Burton Kaplan will “do a great job sorting through the case.”
“This was a group arrest,” Gavin said. “There are different degrees of culpability.”
His client, Geraldo Teixeira, is “on the scale of the least culpable,” Gavin said.
“He was on site for all of five minutes when the raid occurred,” Gavin said.
