Man gets 40 years in prison

A man called the nation's No. 2 breeder of pit bull dogs was sentenced Monday to 40 years in prison on dogfighting and assault charges in what state prosecutors say is an unprecedented case.

David Tant, a 57-year-old North Charleston resident, pleaded guilty in Greenwood County to 41 counts of dogfighting and one count of assault and battery of a high and aggravated nature.

The sentence by Circuit Judge Wyatt Saunders is believed to be the heaviest levied against anyone charged with dogfighting in South Carolina, the state attorney general's office said. It also is one of the heaviest handed out nationally, said Sandy Christiansen, a dogfighting expert with the Humane Society of the United States.

Tant can shave 10 years off the sentence if he pays more than $100,000 in restitution for activities associated with the crimes. But he must serve the bulk of the remaining 30 years, prosecutor Jennifer Evans said

“This sends a message to dogfighters and people who would participate in this vicious, brutal activity that there are consequences for their actions,” Attorney General Henry McMaster said. “This man deserved a substantial sentence. He has been doing this for years.”

Tant has long been associated with dogfighting, from advertisements in magazines linked to the sport to breeding animals for use in fighting, South Carolina authorities say. Christiansen said Tant sold fighting dogs nationally and internationally.

Tant ran into trouble last spring after a surveyor was shot and injured by a booby-trapped gun on Tant's property. That led authorities to raid his land, where they seized 47 pit bulls and other materials as evidence.

Tant said little in court Monday and was taken to jail after the guilty pleas. Family members, hoping to minimize the sentence, had argued that Tant was a good, churchgoing man. Tant faced more than 200 years in prison on all the charges.

“We know he's made a mistake. He's a good man. He's not the bad man he appears through all of this,” said Tant's sister, Linda.

Efforts to reach Tant's attorney, Dale Cobb, were unsuccessful Monday.

McMaster said resolution of the case gives state prosecutors experience and legal precedent to move forward with a crackdown on dogfighting.

Since a state dogfighting task force was formed last spring, authorities have made criminal cases against at least 28 people. The attorney general's office has cases pending against at least 22 people. Charges may be brought against people associated with Tant, prosecutors said. Until this year, cases against dogfighters in South Carolina have been sporadic.

The Humane Society of the United States hailed the state's successful prosecution of Tant as an important message to dogfighters nationwide.

“Mr. Tant has been around a long time in this business,” the Humane Society's Eric Sakach said. “This is a good thing for South Carolina and a good thing nationally.”

McMaster and animal welfare groups say the sport is barbaric and cruel to animals, while also attracting high-stakes gamblers and drug dealers.

About 40,000 people are estimated to participate in dogfighting across the country. According to a police training video shown recently in Columbia, dogfighting is a $500 million underground industry nationally.

Tant's guilty plea means more than 40 pit bulls he owned will be put to death.

The animals have been kept on what Tant called “death row” in a Charleston County shelter since spring, pending resolution of the trial. But Charlie Karesh, a shelter official, said the pit bulls are too vicious to adopt out and should be euthanized. Housing them cost the county more than $100,000.

“We would be liable, and Charleston County would be liable, if we were to put one of these animals out to the public and it tore somebody up or tore up another animal,” Karesh said.

Monday's guilty pleas brought an abrupt end to a trial filled with unusual twists and turns.

Opening arguments were delayed three days last week after Tant fell on a flight of stairs and was hospitalized. That prompted Cobb to seek a delay in the trial.

But Saunders ruled Friday that Tant was fit to stand trial after hearing a report from doctors who had treated him. After Tant left the hospital, Saunders revoked Tant's bond and ordered him to jail.

Last week's proceedings also brought allegations from state prosecutors of witness tampering by someone sympathetic to Tant's case.

The trial had been moved from Charleston to Greenwood County because of pretrial publicity.

Tant can reduce his sentence if he reimburses Charleston County the more-than $100,000 it has cost to house the dogs since April, and by reimbursing medical expenses for a man shot on his property.

Reach Fretwell at (803) 771-8537 or sfretwell@thestate.com.The Associated Press contributed to this story.