A former NFL player has been convicted for running an operation that bred and trafficked “grand champion” canine and their offspring for dogfighting, the Department of Justice mentioned.
LeShon Johnson, 54, a former running again for the Green Bay Packers, Arizona Cardinals and New York Giants, was convicted by a federal jury in Oklahoma on six felony counts of violating the federal Animal Welfare Act’s prohibitions in opposition to “possessing, selling, transporting, and delivering animals to be used in fighting ventures,” the department said.
Following the decision, the ex-NFLer surrendered 190 canine from his “Mal Kant Kennels,” the most important quantity ever seized from a single particular person in a federal dogfighting case, officers mentioned. He faces as much as 5 years in jail and a wonderful of as much as $250,000 on every depend.
“My client respects the verdict,” protection lawyer Courtney Jordan advised NCS, noting Johnson was convicted of solely six of 23 counts. He was acquitted on 17 counts of possessing a canine to be used in an animal combating enterprise, courtroom information present.
“The jury saw there is more to this story than what the government has made it out to be. He is a family man, a good person who loves his dogs. He was never involved in dogfighting himself, per se,” Jordan mentioned.
Johnson’s conviction recollects the 2007 federal case in opposition to then-NFL quarterback Michael Vick, who pleaded responsible to conspiracy involving unlawful dogfighting. Admitting he participated in killing canine and ran a enterprise that concerned unlawful playing, Vick was sentenced to 23 months in jail. After his 2009 launch, he advocated in opposition to dogfighting, returned to the NFL and now coaches a university crew.
While dogfighting is a felony in all 50 states and the District of Columbia, greater than 40,000 folks participate in enterprises that breed, situation and practice canine to be “placed in a pit to fight each other for spectator entertainment and profit,” the Humane Society of the United States and the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals say.
In Johnson’s case, “the American government is really after the American pit bull terrier, and that’s what LeShon Johnson was breeding,” his lawyer mentioned. The breed is “the dog of choice” for combating within the United States, based on the ASPCA.
Johnson had a 2004 state conviction for dogfighting, the Justice Department mentioned. In the federal case in opposition to him, Johnson bred and trafficked “fighting dogs” and their puppies for dogfighting, “profiting from the cruel and illegal industry,” proof offered to the jury confirmed.
“This criminal profited off of the misery of innocent animals and he will face severe consequences for his vile crimes,” Attorney General Pamela Bondi mentioned in a press release.
“This case underscores the Department of Justice’s commitment to protecting animals from abuse – 190 dogs are now safe thanks to outstanding collaborative work by our attorneys and law enforcement components.”
The federal authorities is pursuing the forfeiture of the canine, after which the US Marshals Service would look after them, the division mentioned.