Former NFL running back LeShon Johnson has been sentenced to five years in federal prison after being convicted in connection with a large-scale dogfighting operation in Oklahoma. The case has drawn renewed attention to his life after football, with prosecutors describing a long-running operation that caused the deaths and serious injuries of hundreds of dogs.
LeShon Johnson receives five-year prison sentence in dogfighting case
Johnson, 55, received his sentence Thursday in an Oklahoma federal court. Along with five years behind bars, he was ordered to serve three years of supervised release and pay a $30,000 fine.The former running back surrendered 190 dogs to the government following his conviction. According to the Department of Justice, that was the largest number of dogs seized from a single person in a federal dogfighting case.Federal prosecutors linked Johnson to Mal Kant Kennels, an Oklahoma operation that had been breeding and trafficking pit bulls since at least 2007. Investigators said the dogs were bred for fighting traits and that Johnson promoted bloodlines connected to successful fighting dogs.The case is especially serious because this was not Johnson’s first encounter with dogfighting charges. He pleaded guilty to state dogfighting charges in 2004 and received a five-year deferred sentence, according to court records.His latest conviction involved six felony counts tied to possessing, selling, transporting and delivering dogs for use in animal fighting.Associate Attorney General Stanley E. Woodward Jr. strongly condemned the operation after the sentence was announced.“LeShon Johnson will face justice for building another particularly egregious and violent dog fighting scheme,” associate attorney general Stanley E. Woodward Jr. said in a statement Thursday. “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.”
Former NFL player LeShon Johnson could appeal sentence
Johnson’s legal team had pushed for a much lighter punishment. His attorney, Billy Coyle IV, asked the court to consider probation and pointed to Johnson’s medical condition, his lack of recent criminal history and the fact that he had remained on pretrial release for more than two years without violations.Coyle also argued that Johnson had serious health problems and had experienced multiple concussions and traumatic brain injuries during his football career. Court documents said he had required a daily caretaker for the past two years.“The main point was just to show the court that he’d been out on bond for pretrial release for over two years,” Coyle said. “He’s got no infractions whatsoever. He doesn’t drink. He doesn’t smoke. I don’t think the necessity of sending him to prison or jail was necessary.”Coyle later said he was surprised by the five-year sentence and expected to recommend an appeal, although Johnson had not made a final decision.Prosecutors had sought a 10-year sentence, arguing that Johnson played a leadership role in the operation. They also pointed to the deaths and injuries involving hundreds of dogs as a reason against reducing his punishment.Johnson’s football career once put him in the national spotlight. He played for the Green Bay Packers, Arizona Cardinals and New York Giants between 1994 and 1999 before later playing in the XFL. At Northern Illinois, he earned unanimous All-American honors in 1993 and finished sixth in Heisman Trophy voting.His federal sentence now marks a stark and troubling chapter in the former NFL player’s post-football life.