Two People Given 3 Year Sentence In Collinsville Animal Cruelty Case

Two people who were initially charged with 20 counts of animal cruelty, pleaded guilty to five counts.

Samuel Smith received a three year deferred sentence. Michelle Garrett got an 18 month deferred sentence. Both of them will not spend time in jail.

The Tulsa County Sheriff's Office had arrested Smith and Garrett for having more than 100 animals living in tiny cages, without food or water in Collinsville last December.

The Humane Society of Tulsa helped document and preserve evidence for the D.A.'s office. The Humane Society said they are disappointed with how the case was settled.

In a statement, the shelter said, "It is not acceptable to continually give a slap on the wrist and get rid of a case instead of prosecuting it."

Erik Grayless, Assistant Tulsa County DA said they looked at three factors when deciding to allow the couple to plead guilty to five of the 20 counts and get probation rather than jail time.

Grayless said they considered the facts and circumstances of the case, including the fact the animals were neglected as opposed to abused or violently killed. He said the couple was in their 50s and had no criminal history to that point. He said they also considered the poverty of the couple.

Grayless stated that based on those facts, they decided probation was appropriate. He said the reduction of the counts was to save on fines and costs for the couple. Grayless noted that he was not suggesting the animals weren’t neglected.