Wilkes County commissioner turns self in on assault charge amid controversy over dogfighting allegations

WILKES COUNTY, N.C. (WGHP) — A Wilkes County commissioner has turned himself in to law enforcement on an assault charge as unrelated calls for his resignation mounted.

According to the Wilkes County Sheriff’s Office, Stoney Scott Greene turned himself in at the Wilkes County Magistrate’s Office where he was served with private party warrants for assault on a female and domestic criminal trespassing. He received a $1,500 bond.

Greene has been at the heart of controversy over the past few months as news surfaced of the commissioner’s past indictment in connection with a dogfight from more than two decades ago.

According to the Wilkes Journal-Patriot , Stoney Greene was among 43 people arrested on Oct. 27, 2001, and indicted in connection with a dogfight at a warehouse in Dover Township, New Jersey. An issue of the Asbury Park Press from June 27, 2002 , names “Stoney S. Greene,” of “Purlear, N.C.,” as one of the suspects charged with animal cruelty for attending the fight.

Greene told the Journal-Patriot that it was a case of being “at the wrong place at the wrong time.” He said his charges were ultimately dismissed.

Ahead of Greene’s unsuccessful run to earn the Republican nomination in the N.C. House District 94 race, the nonprofit Animal Wellness Action issued a call to action on March 3, asking Republican voters to reject Greene.

The nonprofit said in a statement, “Mr. Greene, according to informants and to key primary source documents, operated kennels featured in known dogfighting websites where he allegedly sold and bred pit-bull type dogs (e.g. Killer Klown Kennels and Stone Hard Kennel); noted his connection to two most infamous dogfighters—Ed Farron (from Wilkes County) and Tom Garner—and described them as ‘very influential in my knowledge’ of pit-bull-type dogs; and was arrested in 2002 for dogfighting in Dover Township in New Jersey along with more than 40 others at a staged animal-fighting event.”

Ahead of the Wilkes County Board of Commissioners’ March 19, 2024, meeting, Greene, who had been serving as chair, unexpectedly stepped down.

“This afternoon, we received a letter from Commissioner Greene that he would be stepping down as the chairman of the Wilkes County Board of Commissioners,” said Commissioner Casey Joe Johnson. Greene’s move elevated Johnson from vice chair to chair, and the board elected Commissioner Bill Sexton to serve as vice chair.

During the March meeting, multiple people spoke during public concerns to call on the board to pass a resolution in favor of the FIGHT Act , a federal bill introduced by U.S. Sens. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) and John Kennedy (R-La.) to bolster laws against dogfighting and cockfighting. The board passed the motion unanimously.

While some spoke more broadly about the problem with dogfighting and cockfighting, some specifically named Greene in their comments.

Wilkesboro resident Megan Barnett said, “Continuing to plead that a dogfighting arrest 20 years ago was a one-off, wrong-place-and-wrong-time event in the face of so much publicly available evidence to the contrary is asking this community to suspend disbelief, cross our fingers and hope that this time, this time the truth is being told. Others will also mention the name of one of three dog kennels owned by Stone Greene, KKK, Killer Klown Kennels.”

She called on the board to formally censure Greene.

“Everyone should be on the record as being against the deplorable behavior Stoney has posted about publicly and without shame for years,” she said. “Without censure, Stoney Greene will be your albatross.”

On April 16, Commissioner Greg Minton moved for the board to formally urge Greene to resign.

“It brings me no pleasure but due to the recent controversy concerning Commissioner Greene, it has become extremely difficult for the board of commissioners to devote its undivided attention to those issues which our citizens expect us to work on for the betterment of this county,” he said. “Unfortunately, this controversy has been a distraction for board and staff and an impediment to good government. For these reasons, we feel it would be in the best interest of the county to respectfully request that Commissioner Greene consider resigning.”

Minton added that the executive committee of the Wilkes County Republican Party would join the board in asking for Greene’s immediate resignation “for the good of this county.”

The motion passed with all but Greene’s support.

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