A former assistant superintendent at the Palmdale Unified School District entered a no contest plea today to animal abuse charges after 19 pit bulls recovered from her home had to be euthanized, the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office announced.

Pauline Ruth Winbush, 53, and her live-in boyfriend Kevin Williams, 52, both pleaded no contest to one felony count each of possession with intent for dogfighting and animal neglect.

Deputy District Attorney Lyle Riggs said the third co-defendant in case MA064988, Rodney Scott (dob 3/6/69), entered a no contest plea to one misdemeanor count of animal cruelty.

Sentencing for Winbush and Williams is scheduled for May 5 in Department A16 of the Los Angeles County Superior Court, Antelope Valley Branch. Scott is scheduled to be sentenced on April 5, 2017.

Winbush is facing 270 days in county jail and Williams faces a year in county jail.

Both face suspended prison sentences of more than three years, five years formal probation and animal cruelty classes.

Scott will not be able to own or possess any animals for a year.

On Oct. 29, 2014, officers with the County of Los Angeles Department of Animal Care and Control searched Winbush and Williams' Antelope Acres property after their horse was found roaming the streets.

Officers discovered dogs kept inside crates filled with feces and urine which were stored inside the defendant's house, the prosecutor said. Some of the dogs also showed signs of being used for dogfighting.

Other animals discovered at the site included a tortoise, snakes and a box full of mice that appeared to be eating each other out of hunger, the prosecutor added. During the preliminary hearing it was revealed that evidence discovered at the property linked co-defendant Scott to the couple in an operation to breed pit bulls for fighting.

The case was investigated by the Department of Animal Care and Control and the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department.

Los Angeles County District Attorney / case MA064988 / April 5, 2016