Kidnapper of Lady Gaga’s dogs sentenced to four years in prison in the US

One of the kidnappers of singer Lady Gaga’s dogs was sentenced to four years in prison in a Los Angeles court, prosecutors said Wednesday.

Jaylin White, 20, agreed to a plea deal in which she dropped contesting the second-degree assault charge in exchange for attempted murder and conspiracy charges being dropped.

He was immediately sentenced to “four years in state prison,” said Los Angeles Deputy District Attorney Michele Hanisee.

White, along with James Howard Jackson, 19, and Lafayette Shon Whaley, 28, were charged in April last year with the kidnapping of singer Lady Gaga’s pets in February 2021, which left the walker wounded by a bullet. of dogs, Ryan Fischer.

The walker was walking Koji, Gustav and Miss Asia near Sunset Boulevard in Los Angeles when he was intercepted by two men getting out of a car.

Fischer was shot, and the men fled with Koji and Gustav.

Miss Asia ran away and later returned to find Fischer badly injured.

“You not only stole my dogs that night, you stole my livelihood,” Fischer told White in court, according to Rolling Stone.

“I almost died that night,” she said through tears. “But the mental and emotional trauma you caused that night was much worse,” the magazine quoted him as saying.

Police said they don’t think the suspects targeted the walker to take the dogs for their famous owner, but because they are a coveted breed that can fetch thousands of dollars.

Small, and therefore easy to hold and carry, a French bulldog sells for thousands of dollars on the black market as the favorite dog of the stars.

At the time, the singer offered a $500,000 reward and eventually recovered her two dogs, which were turned over to police by a woman two days after the theft.

James Howard Jackson, accused of shooting the walker, was released in April for “a clerical error.”

Authorities offered a $5,000 reward in July for information leading to his capture.