Ex-Giants running back LeShon Johnson is facing federal charges after authorities allege he ran a massive dog-fighting operation that led to what the U.S. Department of Justice believes was the largest seizure of dogs ever in a federal case of this kind.
The DOJ, in announcing a 21-count indictment in a release Tuesday, alleged Johnson had nearly 200 “pit bull-type dogs” that were used in an “animal fighting venture” and that he was “selling, transporting, and delivering a dog for use in an animal fighting venture.”
The 190 dogs were seized by federal law enforcement in October 2024 under the Animal Welfare Act, with officials at every level of the DOJ decrying the crime.
“This strategic prosecution of an alleged repeat offender led to the seizure of 190 dogs destined for a cruel end. It disrupts a major source of dogs used in other dog fighting ventures,” said Adam Gustafson, the Acting Assistant Attorney General of the Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division.
U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi called the alleged animal abuse “cruel” and “depraved” and a crime that “deserves severe punishment.”
FBI Director Kash Patel called dog fighting a “twisted form of entertainment” in a statement of his own.
Court documents allege that Johnson, who played five years in the NFL in the 1990s, had been running at least two dog-fighting operations in two Oklahoma towns a little more than 20 miles apart through an operation called “Mal Kant Kennels.”
Federal prosecutors allege that Johnson, 54, was selectively breeding “champion” and “grand champion” fighting dogs, which are canines that have won multiple fights, to create offspring that could fight.
Additionally, Johnson is accused of selling stud rights and offspring of winning fighting dogs to other dog-fighting operations.
“Dog fighting is a cruel, blood-thirsty venture, not a legitimate business or sporting activity,” U.S. Attorney Christopher J. Wilson for the Eastern District of Oklahoma said in a statement.
“I applaud the investigative work of the FBI and the Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division in detecting and dismantling breeding operations which only serve to propagate this deplorable conduct.”
This would mark the second time Johnson has faced charges related to animal fighting, having pleaded guilty to state charges in Oklahoma in 2004.
Johnson is facing up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine for each count he’s charged with.
Johnson was drafted by the Packers in the third round of the 1994 NFL Draft before spending time with the Cardinals (1995-97) and one season with the Giants in ’99.
