Man gets 8 years for stealing pups at gunpoint

2007 Los Angeles dognapping was caught on surveillance video

AP file

These Yorkshire terriers were among the puppies, valued at $2,500 each, stolen from a California home.

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March 2, 2007: Thieves are caught on tape forcing a family to lie on the floor while they grab puppies. KNBC-TV's Patrick Healy reports.

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updated 6:24 p.m. ET Jan. 10, 2008

LOS ANGELES - A man who stole purebred Yorkshire terrier puppies at gunpoint was sentenced Thursday to eight years in prison.

Troy Cabral sobbed as he was sentenced in Superior Court. He pleaded guilty in November to robbery with use of a gun and assault with a firearm in the Feb. 23 holdup.

Cabral's attorney, James P. Cooper III, said the sentence "was appropriate considering the allegation of gun use."

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Prosecutors said Cabral, 24, and Ryan Betton, 19, went to the Wilshire-area home of a family that had advertised the puppies for sale at $2,500 each. They said they wanted to see the puppies, then returned later and rushed inside when the door was opened.

They ordered the residents to the floor at gunpoint and stuffed three puppies and an adult dog into garbage bags before fleeing.

Cabral and Betton turned themselves in after surveillance camera footage of the theft aired on television. The dogs were later recovered.

Betton was sentenced to two years in prison in December after pleading guilty to robbery.