Former NFL player LeShon Johnson has been sentenced to 60 months in federal prison after being convicted of six counts related to an illegal dogfighting operation.
A federal judge ordered the Broken Arrow, Oklahoma resident to serve five years in prison, followed by three years of supervised release. He was also had to pay a $30,000 fine.
During the trial, prosecutors presented evidence that Johnson operated a large-scale breeding and trafficking network across the country. Johnson began breeding, advertising, and selling fighting canines for profit under the name “Mal Kant Kennels” in 2007, after previously operating under the name “Krazyside Kennels.”
Federal authorities confiscated 190 dogs from his home, making it the highest seizure by a single individual in a federal dogfighting investigation.
The evidence given before the jury revealed that Johnson promoted canines as “champions” or “grand champions” based on whether they had won three or five arranged battles. He made hundreds of thousands of dollars selling puppy litters from specialized fighting bloodlines and collecting “stud fees” to other breeders who used his male canines.
This is Johnson’s second conviction for dogfighting. He pled guilty to state-level dogfighting charges in Oklahoma in 2004.
“LeShon Johnson will face justice for orchestrating another particularly heinous and violent dog fighting ring,” stated Associate Attorney General Stanley E. Woodward Jr. “Johnson was well aware that dog fighting is a felony in all 50 states. To anyone attempting to develop violent and illegal business schemes: you can flee, but you can’t hide from the Department of Justice.
Adam Gustafson, Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General of the Justice Department’s Energy and Natural Resources Division (ENRD), referred to Johnson’s criminal background.
“LeShon Johnson continued to traffic dogs for illegal fighting despite a 2004 state conviction for similar conduct,” Gustafson stated. “We are grateful to our colleagues at the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Oklahoma and the FBI for partnering with ENRD to bring this repeat offender to justice and to the U.S. Marshals Service for executing the biggest rescue operation of its kind.”
U.S. Attorney Christopher J. Wilson for the Eastern District of Oklahoma remarked that Johnson “operated a business which promoted and profited from animal cruelty,” and expressed gratitude to the authorities that cooperated to hold Johnson accountable.
“The animals in this case were defenseless, and the defendant used them to harm each other for his own entertainment,” stated Special Agent in Charge Jonathan Tapp of the FBI New Orleans Field Office. “The FBI appreciates the work of ENRD and the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Eastern District of Oklahoma to hold Mr. Johnson responsible for his mistreatment of these animals.”
The case was investigated by the FBI’s New Orleans Field Office and Shreveport Resident Agency.
Leave a Reply