MONTICELLO – A Monticello man, who was charged in May 2023 with felony cruelty to animals for slamming a pit bull on the pavement and then stomping on her, was arrested again, this time in an early morning drug raid in Monticello.
Samuel Stanford, 25, was charged with several counts of drug possession after the warrant search, said Sullivan County Undersheriff Eric Chaboty.
“Our emergency services unit announced their presence and then breached the downstairs door where he is known to live and secured the premises and conducted a search and we did recover several bags of ecstasy pills,” he said.
Stanford was arraigned in Monticello Village Court and then taken to see County Court Judge James Farrell for violating his probation associated with the animal abuse case.
District Attorney Brian Conaty said Stanford had been sentenced to one-year of interim probation and was required to attend mental health counseling, anger management counseling, registration under Dean’s Law, complete 100 hours of community service, and pay for Zola’s medical treatment and training.
Because of his new drug arrest, the county Department of Probation foiled a violation of probation petition.
