A Bellevue woman who was found guilty on two counts of animal cruelty for the deaths of two dogs will be heading to prison.
On Wednesday, a Sarpy County judge sentenced 38 year old Ashley Alberts-Roach to one year in prison for the deaths of two pit bulls. Alberts-Roach was accused of leaving her boyfriend's dogs, Paco and Rosie, in a hot car for hours resulting in their deaths.
Alberts-Roach faced the possibility of up to two years for each count, but the judge gave her a year in jail on each, allowing her to serve the sentences concurrently.
Paco was a four year old black-and-white Pit/Lab mix and Rosie was a three year old brown pit bull mix, who prosecutors say Alberts-Roach didn't want in her house, so she put the dogs inside a car around 10:00 AM on August 5, 2016. Prosecutors say Alberts-Roach's eleven year old daughter told her mom the dogs were looking sick, but Alberts-Roach still left the dogs in the car.
Just after 2:00 that afternoon, Alberts-Roach reportedly checked on the dogs, who appeared to have died. She moved the dogs indoors to try and cool them down, but police say it was already to late. When Bellevue Police arrived at the home around 3:15 they found the two dogs dead inside the garage.
Mark Langan with the Nebraska Humane Society says they are pleased with the sentence Alberts-Roach received. "It wasn't the maximum, but it was something for her to think about while she sits in jail."
Alberts-Roach is also banned from owning any pets for the next 30 years.