Former NFL player LeShon Eugene Johnson is facing charges related to dog fighting for a second time.
Johnson was previously charged in 2004 in one of the largest dog fighting busts in Oklahoma. He pleaded guilty to state animal cruelty charges but got a five-year deferred sentence and didn't serve prison time.
Now, the Federal Bureau of Investigations has charged Johnson with possessing 190 pit bull-type dogs for use in an animal fighting venture and for selling, transporting, and delivering a dog for use in an animal fighting venture related to a bust that happened at the end of 2024.
Federal officials said FBI agents searched Johnson's home in Broken Arrow back in Oct. 2024 and found evidence leading them to recover 190 dogs — the most ever seized from a single person in a federal dog fighting case.
"And all for what? For some fleeting form of entertainment and for illegal gambling? Makes no sense to me," Wayne Pacelle, president of Animal Wellness Action said to the Scripps News Group in Tulsa.
“Dog fighting is a cruel, blood-thirsty venture, not a legitimate business or sporting activity,” said U.S. Attorney Christopher J. Wilson for the Eastern District of Oklahoma. “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.”
Court documents allege Johnson ran a dog fighting operation known as "Mal Kant Kennels" in Broken Arrow and Haskell.
Lauren Holder, director of Community Pet Support at Tulsa's SPCA, said stopping animal abuse starts with neighbors.
"You can sometimes see, multiple animals coming out of the home at different times of day," Holder said, "If you’re seeing litter after litter being born and then just disappear, that could be indicative as well."
If convicted, Johnson faces a maximum penalty on each count of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
Johnson was a running back and kick returner in the NFL for six seasons during the 1990s. He was selected by the Green Bay Packers in the third round of the 1994 NFL draft. He also played for the Arizona Cardinals and the New York Giants.
Johnson also played for the Northern Illinois Huskies football team. In 1993, he finished sixth in the Heisman Trophy voting race, with five first-place votes.
This story was originally published by Jennifer Maupin with the Scripps News Group in Tulsa.
