Beaumont Man Guilty of Federal Violations in Animal Cruelty Case

BEAUMONT, Texas - A Beaumont man has pleaded guilty to federal violations in the Eastern District of Texas, announced U.S. Attorney Brit Featherston today.

Decorius Mire, 23, pleaded guilty to animal crushing today before U.S. District Judge Marcia A. Crone.

Animal crushing is defined under federal criminal law as, “actual conduct in which one or more living non-human mammals, birds, reptiles, or amphibians, is purposely crushed, burned, drowned, suffocated, impaled, or otherwise subjected to serious bodily injury.”

According to information presented in court, on October 15, 2021, Mire and a co-defendant encountered a live domestic cat in the parking lot of a Beaumont apartment complex. The co-defendant, encouraged by Mire, kicked the cat as if kicking a football field goal, propelling the cat approximately 15 to 20 feet through the air.  Mire filmed the event with his cellular telephone and posted the video on his social media accounts where it was commented on and shared with others.

Mire was indicted by a federal grand jury on Sep. 28, 2022 and faces up to seven years in federal prison at sentencing.  The maximum statutory sentence prescribed by Congress is provided here for information purposes, as the sentencing will be determined by the court based on the advisory sentencing guidelines and other statutory factors.  A sentencing hearing will be scheduled after the completion of a presentence investigation by the U.S. Probation Office.

This case is being investigated by the Beaumont Police Department and the Federal Bureau of Investigation and is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Joseph R. Batte.

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