SALLISAW, OK—MARCH 24, 2017— Robert Howard Dimitt, a 57-year-old former Oklahoma horse trainer, was found guilty on Thursday in Sequoyah County (Oklahoma) of five counts of felony cruelty to animals.

Initially facing 25 years, Dimitt was sentenced to five years in Oklahoma's state prison, followed by 20 years suspended with probation on the condition that he will not train or be around any horses, according to the County District Attorney's Office.

Each charge was punishable by a maximum of five years, according to the Attorney's Office.

"You can't describe it," witness Brett Northan said. "People who are not horse people can never get a handle on it. We just try to speak for the [horses] because they can't speak."

Dimitt abused several horses that were in his care. The horses had been starved, mutilated, burned, and their feet and hooves were cut, an affidavit states. As a result, three of the horses died as a result of being in his care, according to court documents.

While deputies of the Sequoyah County Sheriff's Office investigated the matter at Dimitt's residence, they found that gasoline had been poured on a dead horse's carcass.

"These horses were in his care," Northan said. "They had no choice. They were drugged, mutilated, carved on and for what reason? When you send your horse to a trainer, you do that under the assumption that they're going to be trained, taken care of, and a vet called if needed."

Among the horses Dimitt was accused of abusing was the Grade 1 winning Inseperable mare Gold Digging Ashley. According to the affidavit the horses were valued at $1 million.

Dimitt was initially arrested in August 2015, but released on a $25,000 bond. Following sentencing Thursday, he was taken to the Sequoyah County Jail to await transfer to a state prison.