By John Dobberstein, Editor
A federal judge has sentenced LeShon Johnson of Broken Arrow, once a promising NFL running back, to 60 months in prison on dogfighting charges after his conviction last year.
In addition, Johnson, who lives in Broken Arrow, was sentenced to 3 years of supervised release and a $30,000 fine after being convicted at trial of 6 dog fighting-related charges.
According to prosecutors, testimony at trial showed that Johnson — a repeat offender 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.
Prosecutors alleged at trial 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.
“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.”
“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,” said Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Adam Gustafson of the Justice Department’s Energy and Natural Resources Division (ENRD).
“The defendant operated a business which promoted and profited from animal cruelty,” added 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 FBI’s New Orleans Field Office, Shreveport Resident Agency Office investigated the case.
The sentence did not please everyone. The Washington D.C.-based Animal Wellness Action applauded the feds for prosecuting Johnson but said he should have received a longer prison term for a repeat offender running a major national dogfighting syndicate.
“Dogfighting is an extreme example of a violent crime, and only the threat of long-term incarceration and asset losses will deter people from engaging in this kind of savagery,” said Wayne Pacelle, president of Animal Wellness Action and the Center for a Humane Economy. “Oklahoma is a hotbed of illegal animal fighting activity, and there must be more cases brought against dogfighters and cockfighters.”
“Dogfighting is a calculated enterprise in which animals are bred, conditioned, and placed in a pit to maul each other for gambling and entertainment, a heinous crime of cruelty,” said Kevin Chambers, Oklahoma state director for Animal Wellness Action. “We commend federal prosecutors for dismantling this operation and putting Johnson in prison.”
“Johnson’s prior conviction for dogfighting obviously did not deter him,” Pacelle said. “This time federal authorities stepped in, built a major case, and put him behind bars. We applaud them for doing it, but for a repeat offender associated with 190 fighting dogs, a stronger sentence should have been imposed.”
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