SUFFOLK, Va. (WAVY) — A Suffolk man was convicted on more than two dozen animal cruelty-related charges in court this week.
Court records show 25-year-old Jacob Richard Romes Chappell was found guilty on 27 total counts — which included 15 charges for animal cruelty and 11 charges of failure to care for animals.
He pleaded not guilty to the charges in late-October.
Chappell was arrested after Animal Control found a dead dog in a pen next to a home on Mineral Spring Road.
Several other dogs were found in pens near the home. The pens were said to have had little or no shelter and limited access to water during extreme heat conditions.
Police said one of the dogs was suffering from a health problem and could barely stand.
Animal Control seized the dogs so they could be treated and later put up for adoption.
Chappell is scheduled to be sentenced on April 5.