Woman’s Puppy Trial Begins Today

BY MAC McLEAN
BRISTOL HERALD COURIER
A Blountville, Tenn., woman accused of selling sick puppies from eastern Europe as healthy ones she bred herself will appear before a federal jury for the first time today in a trial that is expected to last 10-12 days.

Rebel Ridge Kennels owner Gina De’Lynn Hodges Price faces 10 federal charges, including wire fraud, mail fraud, income tax fraud and social security fraud that stem from her business’ actions between September 2002 and May 2006.

According to an indictment, Price purchased English and French bulldog puppies from breeders in Lithuania, Lativa, Belarus and Russia then sold them as healthy ones through the Rebel Ridge Web site for between $1,200 and $2,800.

Many of the animals Price sold suffered from serious ailments like genetic diseases, heart murmurs or hip dysplasia, and some had to be euthanized shortly after their new owners received them.

The trial is set to start at 9 a.m. today before U.S. District Judge Ronnie Greer in the Greeneville, Tenn., federal court. Assistant U.S. Attorney Nancy Harr will prosecute the case while Kingsport, Tenn., attorney Richard Spivey will represent Price.

Though she wouldn’t discuss the trial before it started, Harr has announced plans to call an IRS fraud examiner, an American Kennel Club officer and an animal welfare advocate from California to testify as expert witnesses for the prosecution.

Spivey has subpoenaed eight witnesses to testify on Price’s behalf, including William Douglas Pickel, who is being held in the Southwest Virginia Regional Jail awaiting trial on 193 charges of worker’s compensation fraud in an unrelated case.

When the federal trial is complete, Price is set to appear before a judge in Kingsport’s Chancery Court for violating a state restraining order that barred her from selling dogs via the Internet.

Tennessee Attorney General Bob Cooper obtained the restraining order in May 2006 as part of a civil case his office is pursuing against Price alleging violation of Tennessee’s Consumer Protection Act by “engaging in unfair and deceptive acts and practices in connections with the sale of her dogs.”

Last month, Price admitted she violated the restraining order when she tried to sell seven dogs through her Web site in January.

The hearing will determine what, if any, penalties Price will face for violating the restraining order, but the action has already had a consequence in federal court.

On June 10, U.S. Magistrate Judge Dennis Inman banned Price from using the Internet without her attorney’s supervision when the judge learned of Price’s actions.

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