Santa Clarita / Antelope Valley : Man Pleads No Contest in Dog-Fighting Case : Felony: Rosamond man faces up to a year in jail. Five others were also charged after the April 11 Palmdale raid.

One of six men arrested on suspicion of participating in a dog-fighting ring pleaded no contest to charges Tuesday after seeing himself on home movies seized during a police raid, a prosecutor said.

Michael Anthony Garcia, 32, of Rosamond entered the pleas in Antelope Municipal Court to a felony charge of dog fighting and a misdemeanor charge of watching a dogfight. He could receive up to a year in County Jail under terms of a complex plea bargain that drops three other charges against him.

“I expect him to receive very little or no jail time,” said Garcia’s attorney, David Wallin, stating that his client has no previous criminal record.

Also, the plea bargain allows the felony dog-fighting charge against Garcia to be expunged after a year if he avoids further trouble.

Garcia could have received up to five years in prison if convicted of all five counts.

Sheriff’s deputies raided a Palmdale home April 11, seizing seven injured pit bulls from an enclosed back yard pit and arresting six men. The deputies also confiscated two 8-millimeter rolls of home movies, which they say showed dogfights that took place at the house.

Each man subsequently pleaded not guilty to three felony dog-fighting charges, a misdemeanor charge of observing a dogfight and a felony charge of child endangerment for allowing minors near the dogs. But Deputy Dist. Atty. John Evans said Garcia, a supermarket produce manager, confessed to his involvement the day of his arrest after deputies showed him the films.

“He identified himself as one of the persons handling the dogs,” Evans said.

Evans said he does not know if Garcia will be a prosecution witness if the case goes to trial, but he added that Garcia’s statements to authorities will probably be used.

The other defendants have pleaded not guilty and are scheduled to appear at a July 18 preliminary hearing. They are Bobby Lana Auston, 32, who lives at the raided house; Anthony Ray Juniors, 25, of Lancaster, and Edwards Air Force Base Sgts. Frederick Vernard Tate, 23; George Raliegh Wood, 31, and Russell Gaston Joyner, 32.

The prosecutor said no special treatment was given to Garcia. “Everybody else has been offered the same deal,” he said.

Garcia, free on bail until sentencing Aug. 8, declined to comment about his plea following Tuesday’s hearing. The other defendants, free on bail or their own recognizance, declined to comment on how Garcia’s actions might affect the case against them.