Man who stole Lady Gaga’s dogs sentenced to 4 years in prison

AFP

One of the men who stole Lady Gaga’s dogs was sentenced to four years in prison in a Los Angeles court on Wednesday. Jaylin White, 20, will serve his sentence in “a state prison,” said Los Angeles Deputy District Attorney Michele Hanisee.

The defendant agreed to a plea deal in which he withdrew from contesting the second-degree assault charge in exchange for attempted murder and conspiracy charges were dropped.

In April of last year, White, along with James Howard Jackson, 19, and Lafayette Shon Whaley, 28, were charged with kidnapping singer Lady Gaga’s pets in February 2021. They shot dog walker Ryan Fischer, who stood between life and death.

Fisher was walking dogs Koji, Gustav and Miss Asia near Sunset Boulevard in Los Angeles when he was intercepted by two men getting out of a car. He was shot and the criminals fled with Koji and Gustav. Miss Asia fled and then returned to find Fischer, who was seriously injured.

“You didn’t just steal my dogs that night, you stole my livelihood,” Fischer told White in court, according to Rolling Stone.

“I almost died that night,” he said through tears. “But the mental and emotional trauma you caused that night was much worse,” he told the magazine.

Police said they don’t think the suspects targeted the walker to take the famous owner’s dogs, but because they are a coveted and expensive breed. Small and therefore easy to hold and transport, a French Bulldog sells for thousands of dollars on the black market as the favorite dog of the stars.

At the time, the singer offered a reward of US$ 500,000 (about R$ 2.6 million) and ended up recovering the two dogs, which were handed over to the police by a woman two days after the robbery.

James Howard Jackson, accused of shooting Fisher, was released in April for “an administrative error”. In July, authorities offered a $5,000 reward for information leading to his capture.