QUINCY — Eight Gadsden County residents are facing more than 80 federal charges in connection with a "large-scale," illegal dog fighting ring involving about 100 dogs.

The Gadsden Sheriff's Office and U.S. Attorney Larry Keefe's office announced the indictments Tuesday afternoon.

“The United States Attorney’s Office takes allegations of dog fighting very seriously. Our society can be judged, in part, by how we treat our animals,” Keefe said in a statement. “This office will work with our partners at the federal, state, and local levels to pursue such cases vigorously."

According to the federal indictment the defendants bred, housed, trained and fought pit bulls and pit bull-type dogs. They communicated with each other by telephone and text messages about the transporting, delivering, exchanging and selling of the animals, and the location of fights held around the county. A "cooperating source" helped with the investigation.

One of the defendants is alleged to have left a dog training for a fight unattended in a swimming pool, allowing it to drown.

Those charged face up to five years in federal prison and fines of $250,000 per count of conviction. Four of the eight charged in the dog fighting scheme were among a dozen arrested May 8, 2019, on federal drug trafficking offenses charges for allegedly distributing methamphetamine, cocaine, and MDMA throughout the north-central Florida Panhandle between 2018 and 2019.

“We will not tolerate drug dealing, dog fighting or anything like that in Gadsden County,” said Sheriff Morris Young during a new conference.

Young said the dog fighting investigation began 18 months ago and involved the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Homeland Security, the Drug Enforcement Administration and many other agencies.

"For a long time we had such a drug problem here," he said. "We had types of drugs coming into this county that I really had never heard of, and therefore I felt we needed to venture out and bring other entities in to assist us in cleaning up Gadsden County."

A news release from Keefe's office said Tuesday's indictments and arrests followed a nearly five year investigation by the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force, a joint federal, state and local cooperative. It targeted a drug trafficking organization that also allegedly conducted the large dog fighting ring in the Northern District of Florida between 2014 and 2019, according to the U.S. Attorney's office.

At one of the dog fighting locations, law enforcement officials found the remains of a dog that recently had died. Most of the dogs used by the defendants were recovered by the United States Marshals Service and placed with foster care groups. Some of the dogs had minor cuts and bruises.

The Gadsden Sheriff's Office would not reveal the location of the animals, which are being held as evidence "in an undisclosed location."

Miles Davis, an acting special agent in charge at the U.S. Department of Agriculture, stood alongside Young and said the arrests targeted those who caused abuse and "suffering of helpless animals."

"These ventures as proven by this investigation entail other criminal activity involving drugs, firearms and gambling," he said. "This investigation in particular proves how intertwined illegal dog fighting ventures are with these other serious crimes."

The press conference came hours after over 50 members of the Gadsden County SWAT and other agencies raided unspecified properties and were able to rescue dogs and make several arrests.

During the operation that occurred before dawn, search warrants were executed on properties allegedly involved in training, housing, and conducting illegal dogfights.

The defendants charged in the federal indictment are:

Jermaine Terrell Hadley, 31, Quincy

Devar San Jacus Donaldson, 27, Quincy;

Sariem Shanquell McMillian, 23, Quincy

Randell Lavel Colston, 47, Quincy

Bob Streets, 35, Quincy

Zanntayfey Yohoun Bennett, 35, Quincy

Dennis Lamar Howard, 45, Chattahoochee

Leonard Safford, 37, Gretna

Hadley, Donaldson, McMillian, and Colston also face the earlier announced drug charges.

Young warned that there would be "more to come" in the investigation.

“I just want to let everyone in Gadsden County know to tell their loved ones who are involved in these crimes to cease and desist, because we are going to come for them.”