Former NFL Player Sentenced to 5 Years in Prison for Operating Large-Scale Dog Fighting and Trafficking Venture in Oklahoma
Note, Johnson was sentenced to 60 months in prison. A previous version of the release misstated his prison sentence. The release has been updated.
Former NFL player LeShon Johnson of Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, was sentenced today to 60 months in prison, three years of supervised release, and a $30,000 fine after being convicted at trial of six dog fighting-related charges.
Testimony at trial showed that Johnson — who pleaded guilty in 2004 to Oklahoma dog fighting offenses — had been running a major operation since at least 2007 that bred and sold fighting dogs for profit. Johnson, who previously ran “Krazyside Kennels” referred to his new operation as “Mal Kant Kennels.” The jury heard evidence that Johnson bred and trafficked hundreds of dogs for the purpose of dog fighting around the country. Authorities seized 190 dogs from his property, the largest number ever seized from a single individual in a federal dog fighting case.
Screen grab of a video sent by Johnson of one of his dogs.
Screen grab of a video sent by Johnson of one of his dogs.
“LeShon Johnson will face justice for building another particularly egregious and violent dog fighting scheme,” said Associate Attorney General Stanley E. Woodward Jr. “As Johnson was well aware, dog fighting is a felony in all 50 states. To anyone attempting to build violent and illicit business schemes: you can run, but you can’t hide from the Department of Justice.”
“LeShon Johnson continued to traffic dogs for illegal fighting despite a 2004 state conviction for similar conduct,” said Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Adam Gustafson of the Justice Department’s Energy and Natural Resources Division (ENRD). “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.”
“The defendant operated a business which promoted and profited from animal cruelty,” said U.S. Attorney Christopher J. Wilson for the Eastern District of Oklahoma. “I applaud our law enforcement partners for their work to investigate this case and hold Mr. Johnson accountable for his crimes.”
“The animals in this case were defenseless and the defendant used them to harm each other for his entertainment,” said 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.”
At trial, the jury heard evidence that Johnson advertised many of his dogs as “champions” and “grand champions,” meaning they had won three or five fights, respectively. Johnson also boasted of the fighting prowess of his dogs. Johnson would sell litters of puppies from favorable fighting bloodlines and “stud fees” for the right to breed with one of his male dogs, with proceeds totaling hundreds of thousands of dollars.
The FBI’s New Orleans Field Office, Shreveport Resident Agency Office investigated the case.
Senior Trial Attorney Adam Cullman of ENRD’s Environmental Crimes Section is prosecuting the case. Additional assistance was provided by former Trial Attorneys Ethan Eddy, Sarah Brown, and Todd Gleason of ENRD’s Environmental Crimes Section, and by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jordan Howanitz and Olivia Staubus for the Eastern District of Oklahoma.