A Romanian princess who ran a cockfighting business from her U.S. home was sentenced to three years’ probation on Wednesday and ordered to pay a large fine.
Irina Walker, the third daughter of former Romanian King Michael I, pleaded guilty along with her husband to hosting the regular gambling events for at least a year, sometimes making $2,000 a day.
In cockfighting, roosters are often strapped with knives or razor blades and set loose in a ring to battle each other, often to the death. Spectators bet on which animal will survive.
According to court documents, at least a dozen people helped the Walkers organize the fights on the couple's ranch in the northwestern state of Oregon until their arrest in 2013.
As part of the plea deal, the couple must sell their farm and pay $200,000 to the government.
The 61-year-old princess was born after her father was forced to abdicate by communists in 1947. King Michael is one of the only living heads of state from World War II.