A former Lincoln County Sheriff’s Department auxiliary deputywho admitted Tuesday to grand larceny in the theft of a Monticellopolice dog last year was sentenced Thursday to five years and mustserve one year under house arrest.

Claude Raymond “Ray” Gatlin pleaded guilty this week to stealingOrin, a Monticello Police Department drug dog, from its kennel onApril 9, 2004, and shipping it to Arizona to sell.

Circuit Judge R.I. Pritchard III on Thursday sentenced Gatlin tofive years with four years suspended. He also was ordered to pay afine of $1,000, restitution to the Police Department and courtcosts. He also must make a written apology to the town’s Board ofAldermen.

The dog was last seen in the South when it was shipped from NewOrleans on the afternoon of April 9.

Monticello police began searching for the dog in Nevada afterreceiving information from a confidential source that a dog sellerhad taken it and shipped the 2-year-old shepherd to a kennel inthat area.

The dog was recovered from Risen Star Kennels in Bullhead City,Ariz., April 16 after the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Departmentlocated Orin in a kennel near the Laughlin/Bullhead InternationalAirport and contacted the Bullhead City Police Department to makethe recovery.

A kennel spokesperson told police Gatlin claimed the dog waseliminated from the K-9 program and that he wanted to sell the dog.The kennel cooperated fully with authorities and was neversuspected of any wrong-doing, according to Carrie Conner, publicinformation officer for the Bullhead City police.