A Louisiana man was sentenced to two months in federal prison yesterday for trying to smuggle more than 200 cockfighting gaffs into the United States through Hawai'i.

Joseph Marty Toralba was arrested at the Honolulu airport on Feb. 2 as he was returning from an international cockfighting derby in the Philippines.

Customs officers found 263 gaffs — sharp blades that are attached to the birds' legs — hidden with portable gas stoves in cardboard boxes Toralba had checked in on the plane.

Toralba, a 39-year-old landscaper who owned a 150-bird farm in Colfax, La., and 500 birds at another location, was indicted Feb. 21.

U.S. District Judge David Ezra sentenced Toralba to 60 days in prison, one year of probation and fined him $1,000 plus a $100 special assessment. He must report to prison Sept. 15.

"We have a ... underground cockfighting culture in the community, that still exists illegally. The court needs to send a message there that bringing gaffs or other types of paraphernalia (into the U.S.) is against the law," said Ezra, speaking in court. "Cruelty to any animal is simply wrong."

Ezra said Toralba's case was "unique" because he bought the gaffs in the Philippines, where they are legal, to take to Louis-iana, where cockfighting was legal at the time of his arrest.

This month, Louisiana became the 50th state to outlaw cockfighting.

After his sentencing, Toralba said the sentence was "fair, I guess."

In court, Toralba's attorney, Mark S. Kawata, said his client grew up in a Filipino farming community in Delano, Calif., and learned about cockfighting from his grandfather.

He said Toralba had no prior criminal convictions or brushes with the law.

"I'm sorry for the trouble my arrest caused," Toralba said in court. "I try to raise my kids right, and I promise not to do that in the future."

Toralba was the first person in Hawai'i to be prosecuted under the Animal Fighting Prohibition Enforcement Act of 2007.

The act amended the Animal Welfare Act to prohibit knowingly selling, buying, transporting or delivering, in interstate or foreign commerce, a knife, a gaff, or any other sharp instrument for attachment to the leg of a bird for use in an animal fighting venture. Violation of the law is a felony punishable by up to three years in prison.

"I think Judge Ezra's sentence sends a strong message to Mr. Toralba and the community that the importation of gaffs will not be tolerated," said Assistant U.S. Attorney Darren W.K. Ching.

Pamela Burns, president of the Hawaiian Humane Society, said the case sends the proper message to the local and national community that cockfighting is "not to be tolerated."

"I'm pleased with the judge's decision. I'm glad he'll be spending two months in prison," said Burns, speaking outside of court. "It's a landmark case."

As part of his probation, Toralba is prohibited from participating in cockfights and must sell all of his gaming stock and paraphernalia.

Toralba attended invitation-only cockfighting derbies overseas at least four times a year and made more than $9,000 annually from his hobby.

"You're out of the cockfighting business. You will have to find another way to entertain yourself. Get into football," Ezra told Toralba in court. "There are a lot of football fans down there in Louisiana, and it's legal to go to football games."