Sentencing in dog killing case rescheduled
GATEHOUSE MEDIA

BATH - Sentencing was adjourned Monday, July 14, in the case of a 26-year-old Bath man who admitted killing and dismembering a dog last year in Savona.

Jeremy James was scheduled to be sentenced in Steuben County Court on the charge of aggravated animal cruelty, a felony punishable by up to two years in state prison.

His sentencing was rescheduled for 9 a.m. Aug. 13, court officials said.

James was not offered a sentencing agreement in exchange for his guilty plea, prosecutors said.

Police said James and a friend, Jake A. Hoffman, 26, of Hornell, killed a Cocker Spaniel in a "depraved and sadistic manner" July 21, 2007, on Grove Street in Savona. The men then dismembered the body.

The dog was owned by Hoffman's aunt.

The arrests followed a joint investigation by the Steuben County Sheriff 's Office and the county's animal cruelty investigator, after a Savona resident contacted the local SPCA.

Hoffman was found guilty of the same charges April 9 after a bench trial in front of Steuben County Judge Joseph Latham.

Hoffman is awaiting sentencing. He also faces up to two years in state prison.