SALE CITY, Ga. (WALB) - A Sale City man has been sentenced to 10 years in federal prison after being convicted on dozens of dog fighting charges, along with drug trafficking and firearms offenses, in what federal officials say is a first-of-its-kind case in the United States.

According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Georgia, Dun Terrius Bradford, 55, of Sale City, was sentenced Thursday to 120 months in prison, followed by five years of supervised release.

Bradford was convicted in December on 69 counts of illegally possessing dogs for fighting purposes, one count of manufacturing and possessing with intent to distribute cocaine base, and one count of possessing firearms in furtherance of those crimes.

Federal officials said the case resulted in the nation’s first federal conviction for possessing firearms in furtherance of dog fighting.

Investigators rescued 67 pit bull-type dogs from Bradford’s property in Sale City. At the time, authorities said it was the third-largest rescue of dogs in any federal dog fighting case.

According to court documents and trial evidence, investigators uncovered what prosecutors described as a dog fighting operation at Bradford’s home. Authorities recovered equipment and supplies allegedly used to train and maintain fighting dogs, including modified treadmills with blood stains, injectable veterinary steroids, a homemade breeding stand, a cattle shock prod containing dog DNA and a large cinder-block water tank used to force tethered dogs to swim.

Investigators also seized cocaine base, equipment used to manufacture the drug and four firearms from the property.

Federal law prohibits fighting dogs in ventures affecting interstate commerce and possessing, training, transporting, selling or receiving dogs for fighting purposes.

“Dog fighting is organized crime, and it’s a magnet for other criminal activity,” Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Adam Gustafson said in a statement. U.S. Attorney Will Keyes added that the case demonstrates the Justice Department’s commitment to dismantling criminal organizations tied to animal fighting.

The investigation was led by the U.S. Department of Agriculture Office of Inspector General and the Mitchell County Sheriff’s Office, with assistance from the Georgia Bureau of Investigation and the U.S. Marshals Service.

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