MONMOUTH — Monmouth College graduate King Sami, 24, Chicago, made a final appearance at the Warren County Courthouse Tuesday afternoon, pleading guilty for the death of his pit bull puppy, Kash, last May.

The plea was part of a deal with prosecutors.

Sami was originally charged with aggravated cruelty to animals, a Class four felony carrying a maximum penalty of one to three years and a fine of up to $25,000, following the stomping death of Kash on May 10, 2015. He ultimately pleaded guilty to cruel treatment of animals, a Class A misdemeanor carrying a potential sentence of one year and a $2,500 fine.

The accepted conditions of Sami’s amended guilty plea include 180 days on gps-monitored house arrest and a fine of $852. After a brief recess, Judge Anthony Vaupel ruled in favor of the defense’s request for home confinement. He also noted an Illinois statute requiring the defendant not be able to own a companion animal during this period of discharge. Both sides agreed to the inclusion of the statute in the ruling.

“I think the defense attorney did a masterful job of turning him into a model citizen after he committed his crime,” said Dan Porter, who has faithfully attended each of Sami’s appearances in court. “The one who didn’t get to testify was that little puppy.”

Sami’s attorney, Tom Siegel, who declined to comment, put his client on the stand to testify prior to Vaupel’s ruling on home confinement. While Sami was on the stand, Siegel introduced several character references from Sami’s employer and mentors into evidence. He also discussed Sami’s upbringing, referring to his city as “Chi-raq,” and detailed various points of volunteer work Sami had previously undertaken.

“I don’t feel it was fair at all. He twisted it all around to blame everyone but himself,” said Susan Bethel of Monmouth.

When discussing the night of the incident, Sami made the statement that, after abruptly leaving a party following a physical altercation, he was unable to retrieve the puppy from the residence. He claimed the last time he saw Kash, the puppy was still alive.

Warren County Sheriff Martin Edwards also took the stand to discuss the problematic nature of the gps-monitoring involved in home confinement and the difficult nature of checking on someone in a different county, let alone someone residing in Cook County.

“We have had issues in the past with grift; false alarms and geographic locations moving,” Edwards said. “I strongly recommend against people being placed on home confinement outside of the county. Sometimes there is a malfunction within the unit. If within Warren County, we can send a deputy or officer to verify if the person is within the geographical zone. We have had difficulties in verifying if it is a non-compliance or malfunction outside the county, because we must involve outside agencies.”