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Charges reduced for second man involved in Virginia Beach cat strangling case

Posted at 2:25 PM, Jun 14, 2016
and last updated 2016-06-14 14:25:44-04

VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. – A man charged with felony animal cruelty for his involvement in the strangling death of a cat in Virginia Beach pleaded guilty to reduced charges in Virginia Beach Circuit Court on Tuesday.

Justin Page was charged with felony animal cruelty and disposal of a companion animal on public property.

Photos by Virginia Beach Police. Left: Cody C. Gerarden. Right: Justin Page.

Photos by Virginia Beach Police. Left: Cody C. Gerarden. Right: Justin Page.

Page and his roommate, Cory Gerarden, were both charged after a cat Page had adopted was found strangled to death under a pile of leaves near their home.

Gerarden was found guilty in May and sentenced to serve 18 months in jail. Evidence in court proved Gerarden told an animal control officer investigating the cat’s death that he strangled Pirate the cat with a rope.

According to the Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office, based on that admission by Gerarden, and also due to Page’s lesser involvement in the crime, his charges were reduced to misdemeanors.

Page pleaded guilty to both misdemeanor charges and sentenced on each charge to 12 months with 11 months suspended, for a total of 24 months with 22 months suspended, leaving two months to serve.

He may not own any companion animals and must be on good behavior for 24 months.

He will report to jail on June 21.

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