Vermilion Parish man escapes jail time for cruelty to animal charges

When Gregory Walker was first charged with three counts of cruelty to animals and four counts of aggravated cruelty to animals, he was looking at possibly spending at least four years behind bars.
When it came down to sentencing Walker for all seven charges, Walker agreed to plea no contest to only one charge of aggravated cruelty to animals. By doing that, the state agreed to drop the other six charges.
Because of the plea agreement with the state. Walker will not serve any time in jail.
Cruelty to animals means causing physical pain to animals either through fighting or not properly caring for the animal. Aggravated cruelty means the animal was beaten.
The court records show Walker received a “defer the imposition of sentence of a cap of two years.”
When a defendant is given a deferred sentence, they actually aren’t convicted of any thing and are instead in a state of limbo regarding their sentence. If they complete their required probation, community service, etc., their sentence will be dismissed.
If they do not complete their probation, they will be resentenced.
Walker will be on one year unsupervised probation. He also has to pay court cost of $420 and as a special condition, he has to pay restitution of $1,184 through the State’s Probation and Parole Office who then pays the Vermilion Parish Sheriff’s Office.