State candidate has ties to animal fighting

HD 50 candidate Stacy Jo Adams’ husband has been linked to illegal cockfighting.

June 12, 2024

With primary elections looming on Tuesday, June 18, information linking one state candidate to illegal animal fighting has come to light.

House District 50 candidate Stacy Jo Adams (R-Duncan) denied that her husband, Ricky Adams, attended a large cockfighting derby that was busted in Carter County in 2023. Questions surfaced about Ricky Adams’ involvement in the “2023 Asian Gaff Championship,” a cockfighting event that took place on June 18, 2023, after a trailer belonging to Ricky Adams was impounded by Carter County Sheriff’s deputies during the event near the area of Midway and Round Up Road.

In records filed in Carter County District Court, a black box trailer “containing built-in cages with fighting cocks, generator, and humidifier,” was seized by deputies during the bust. According to one deputy’s statement, the trailer was being used to “facilitate, participate, or further the commission of a cockfighting offense” in violation of state law. In a court brief filed by his lawyer in September 2023, Ricky Adams admitted ownership of the trailer but denied that it was used for illegal purposes.

According to the animal welfare organization Animal Wellness Action, Stacy Jo Adams said that her family is not involved in cockfighting. “Stacy Jo Adams told me that she will not support the decriminalization of cockfighting—or any animal fighting,” said Kevin Chambers, Oklahoma state director for Animal Wellness Action.

However, Chambers shared an aerial photo of what he says is a property owned by Stacy Jo and Ricky Adams. “Satellite photos show over a hundred fighting rooster huts on the farm,” Chambers said.

Phone messages and emails from Kirkpatrick Policy Group to Stacy Jo Adams asking about her husband’s involvement with cockfighting went unanswered as of 5 p.m. on June 12, 2024.

According to police reports, Carter County deputies, acting on a phone tip, discovered the cockfighting facility in a rural, secluded area where Ricky Adams’ trailer was parked. “As I drove up toward the metal building, I observed that many of its vehicles had out-of-state license plates,” reported Sergeant David Jones of the Carter County Sheriff’s Office. “I observed several custom box-type trailers that appeared to have individuals in and around them. I further observed approximately forty to sixty individuals walking around the grounds and some were carrying what appeared to be fighting roosters. I further observed at least one rooster with fighting gaffs (knives attached to the roosters’ legs) which were being carried by an Asian male.”

After Jones and another deputy activated the emergency lights on their patrol units and identified themselves as law enforcement, the people outside the metal building scattered. The deputies tried to detain the participants, but many fled on foot or in their vehicles. Jones reported seeing into an open door of the metal building, where he observed “a cockfighting pit with several male subjects standing inside with one holding a fighting rooster. I further observed one set of bleacher-type seating filled with spectators, most of which appeared to be of Asian descent.”

After being alerted to police presence, about sixty to eighty people fled the building from a rear exit. Some ran to parked vehicles and others into nearby woods. The deputies detained several individuals who were participating in the cockfights, Jones reported.

After calling for backup and assistance from the state wildlife office, the deputies processed the crime scene, finding additional fighting pits, several live roosters (some severely injured), several rooster carcasses, cash, drugs, scales used to weigh fighting cocks, gaffs, spurs, and knives. In addition, Jones reported, deputies found documents for identifying and tracking bets placed on cockfights and discovered current banking information belonging to the property’s owner, Jarry L. Young, Jr.

Police also found a set of “Vietnamese Derby Rules” posted in plain view that, when translated, referred to the event as a cockfighting festival and outlined instructions for participating in the event. Deputies also found a large trophy inscribed with the words “Asian Gaff Championship,” Jones said.

One individual detained at the cockfight was identified as J. Chance Campo, who at the time was a leader of the Oklahoma Gamefowl Commission, an advocacy nonprofit that works to overturn Oklahoma’s cockfighting ban.

The Woodford Fire Department assisted in dismantling the fighting pit and bleachers so they could no longer be used, and deputies inventoried the vehicles and trailers that had been abandoned by the event participants. One vehicle contained cocaine and $10,000 in cash. Police reported several vehicles and trailers were abandoned at the scene.

In all, seven men were charged with cockfighting crimes, including Campo. While it is difficult to determine whether Ricky Adams attended the event, what is known is that he was not among those charged with criminal activity.

Stacy Jo Adams is running for the Oklahoma House of Representatives seat vacated by Representative Marcus McEntire, who is not running for reelection. The other candidates vying for the seat include Andrew Aldridge (R-Duncan), Clayton T. Pickard (R-Duncan), and Jayce Daniel Miller (R-Ringling).

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