A Cambridge man accused of abandoning 16 dogs including five that died in deplorable living conditions at a Franklin Avenue home in the city has agreed to a negotiated plea.
Gregory Graham Sr., 46, faces six counts of prohibition of companion animals and three counts of abandoning animals. All nine offenses are second-degree misdemeanors filed by the Guernsey County Sheriff’s Office.
Graham will enter negotiated pleas at 11 a.m. on July 16, according to Cambridge Municipal Court Magistrate Teresa Liston during a session Tuesday.
Cambridge Assistant Law Director Myra Scheurer and defense attorney Beau Cross met with Liston in chambers to discuss the terms of the plea agreement prior to scheduling the plea hearing in open court.
The terms of the negotiated plea were not released by Liston. The magistrate said Graham will enter pleas to the charges filed against him, but did not say if pleas would be entered to all nine charges.
A message left for Law Director Bill Ferguson or Scheurer was not been returned Tuesday afternoon.
A trial for Graham was scheduled to start Tuesday prior to the court changing the session to a formal pretrial hearing.
A prior trial was continued by the court at the request of the law director’s office while authorities awaited necropsy reports from the Ohio Department of Agriculture for each of the five dead dogs.
Attorneys confirmed the necropsy report has been received by the Guernsey County Sheriff’s Office. Investigators have declined to release the details of the report due to the pending status of the case.
Dog Warden Karla Kerns previously said the report will be released once the case is resolved in court. On Tuesday, Kerns said she expects to release the report following the July 16 plea hearing.
Ten adult dogs and a puppy were recused from the Franklin Avenue home. All of the dogs have since been adopted from the Guernsey County Animal Shelter, according to Kerns.
The living dogs were reportedly feeding on the carcasses.
The dogs were seized on Feb. 22 after Kerns and deputies visited the home multiple times from Feb. 19 to 21 trying to conduct a wellness check. Neighbors reported they had not seen Graham since the first days of February.
More:Dog warden seizes 11 dogs living in squalor conditions, 5 dead dogs found inside the home
The living dogs were transported to the Cambridge Animal Clinic where they were examined by a local veterinarian, Dr. Hallie Nesselroad.
Graham was charged after tips from the public led authorities to a Southgate Parkway hotel in Cambridge where he was staying.
More: Man in dog abandonment case arrested at Cambridge hotel
Graham later surrendered ownership of the dogs to the county.
Authorities said a combination of dog feces, urine, trash, and rotting material was 1 to 2 feet deep on the floor in portions of the house located on the city’s southwest corner.
Cambridge firefighters were dispatched to enter the home with self-contained breathing apparatus and Tyvek suits to remove the dogs.
The law director’s office will make a formal sentence recommendation at the plea hearing.
Email: rstillion@daily-jeff.com