Former NFL player LeShon Johnson of Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, was sentenced on Sept. 10, 2026, to 60 months in prison after being convicted at trial of six dog fighting-related charges. He also received three years of supervised release and a $30,000 fine, and authorities seized 190 dogs from his property—the largest number ever taken from one person in a federal dog fighting case.
Trial testimony showed that Johnson, who pleaded guilty to Oklahoma dog fighting offenses in 2004, had operated a venture that bred and sold fighting dogs for profit since at least 2007. After previously running “Krazyside Kennels,” he called the newer operation “Mal Kant Kennels,” according to evidence presented to the jury.
The jury heard evidence that Johnson bred and trafficked hundreds of dogs for dog fighting around the country. Prosecutors presented evidence that he advertised dogs as “champions” and “grand champions,” terms meaning the animals had won three or five fights, respectively, and that he boasted about their fighting ability.
Evidence also showed that Johnson sold litters of puppies from favored fighting bloodlines and collected “stud fees” for breeding rights involving his male dogs. Proceeds from the operation totaled hundreds of thousands of dollars.
“LeShon Johnson continued to traffic dogs for illegal fighting despite a 2004 state conviction for similar conduct,” said Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Adam Gustafson of the Justice Department’s Energy and Natural Resources Division.
The FBI’s New Orleans Field Office, Shreveport Resident Agency Office investigated the case. Senior Trial Attorney Adam Cullman of the Energy and Natural Resources Division’s Environmental Crimes Section prosecuted it, with assistance from former Trial Attorneys Ethan Eddy, Sarah Brown and Todd Gleason, as well as Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jordan Howanitz and Olivia Staubus for the Eastern District of Oklahoma.