Almost a year after video cameras caught his attack on a pet pig, a Springfield man has pled guilty to charges of animal cruelty.

Benjamin Fullwood entered his plea March 13 in Effingham County Superior Court for an attack on Oliver, a domestic pig. He pled guilty under first offender status and will have his sentencing delayed until April 10 before Judge John R. Turner.

Sheriff’s deputies said Fullwood incited two pit bull terriers to attack the pig, which had gotten away from its owner’s property on Courthouse Road and wandered into a nearby mobile home park.

As residents of the mobile home park tried to find the pig’s owner, Fullwood released two pit bulls on the pig and then stabbed it nearly two dozen times as bystanders, including children, watched.

Oliver the pig survived his wounds and has been a constant presence at local parades.

Fullwood’s co-defendant, Clyde McFearin, has asked for a bench trial rather than a jury trial. If convicted, his maximum sentence is 15 years.

Fullwood and McFearin were indicted last June. Fullwood was charged with two counts of aggravated cruelty to animals and two counts of making false statements. McFearin is charged with one count of aggravated cruelty to animals, one count of making a false statement and one count of obstructing a law enforcement officer.