March 25 (UPI) — A former NFL participant in Oklahoma was accused of allegedly operating a large-scale canine combating and trafficking enterprise with almost 200 canine seized in a sting.
LeShon Eugene Johnson, 54, of Damaged Arrow, has been charged with a number of violations associated to the federal Animal Welfare Act, according to an unsealed grand jury indictment Tuesday by a U.S. district court docket in Oklahoma’s japanese district.
“Canine combating is against the law, and courts have upheld its prosecution repeatedly,” Appearing U.S. Assistant Legal professional Common Adam Gustafson of DOJ’s Setting and Pure Sources Division (ENRD), said in a release.
A former participant on the Inexperienced Bay Packers from 1994-1995, Johnson is charged with possessing, promoting, transporting and delivering a canine to be used in an animal combating enterprise.
Federal authorities say Johnson’s canine have been the very best quantity ever confiscated from a single particular person in a U.S. dog-fighting case when 190 pit bulls have been seized from his residence in October near E. forty first St. S. and County Line Highway in Damaged Arrow, the most important suburb in Tulsa.
A former participant on the Inexperienced Bay Packers from 1994-1995, LeShon Johnson is charged with possessing, promoting, transporting and delivering a canine to be used in an animal combating enterprise. Federal authorities say Johnson’s canine have been the very best quantity ever confiscated from a single particular person in a U.S. canine combating case when 190 pit bulls have been seized from his residence in October in Tulsa’s largest suburb. File Photograph By John C. Anderson/UPI
He made an preliminary court docket look final week.
It is unlawful below federal legislation to struggle canine in a enterprise that crosses state traces affecting interstate commerce. It is also unlawful to coach, transport, ship, promote, buy to obtain canine for combating functions.
“His trafficking of combating canine to different canine fighters throughout the nation contributed to the expansion of the canine combating business and allowed Johnson to revenue financially,” DOJ officers say.
In 1998, Johnson’s profession was briefly interrupted by lymphoma most cancers however managed to rebound by 1999 with a spot on the New York Giants. He completed sixth within the 1993 Heisman Trophy voting race however his soccer profession ended within the XFL with the Chicago Enforcers.
He pleaded responsible in 2004 to related prices as operator of “Krazyside Kennels.”
“This strategic prosecution of an alleged repeat offender led to the seizure of 190 canine destined for a merciless finish. It disrupts a serious supply of canine utilized in different canine combating ventures,” added DOJ’s Gustafson.
In line with new court docket paperwork, Johnson ran a minimum of two canine combating operations known as “Mal Kant Kennels” in Haskell, the place he was born, and his city of Damaged Arrow with its greater than 113,000 residents in Tulsa County.
In February, authorities likewise seized 10 pit bull canine when a Florida man was sentenced to seven years in jail for a felony gun possession cost and conspiring to function a dogfighting ring in Massachusetts, Florida and Connecticut.
In the meantime, a former official within the U.S. Division of Protection in December was sentenced to 18 months in a federal jail for collaborating in a multi-state dogfighting conspiracy in brutal fights which abused and killed the canine, and a person was slapped with 46 months in jail in a separate case in July 2023.
The FBI’s workplace in Shreveport, in the meantime, has been investigating Johnson’s case.
Johnson, if convicted, faces a most penalty on every rely of 5 years in jail and a $250,000 tremendous.
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