Former NFL running back LeShon Johnson has been sentenced to five years in prison for his role in a deadly dogfighting ring.
Johnson, 55, received 60 months in prison, along with three years of supervised release and a $30,000 fine, on Thursday, September 10, after he was convicted of six dog fighting-related charges for his role in a dogfighting operation that resulted in the “death or serious bodily injury” of hundreds of pit bulls.
Johnson was previously found guilty in August 2025 of violating the federal Animal Welfare Act’s prohibitions against possessing, selling, transporting, and delivering animals to be used in fighting ventures.
“Testimony at trial showed that Johnson … had been running a major operation since at least 2007 that bred and sold fighting dogs for profit,” read a press release from the U.S. Department of Justice.
Johnson, who previously ran “Krazyside Kennels,” referred to his new operation, based out of Broken Arrow and Haskell, Oklahoma, as “Mal Kant Kennels.” Evidence showed that the athlete “bred and trafficked hundreds of dogs for the purpose of dog fighting around the country.”
Authorities had seized 190 dogs from his property — the largest number ever seized from a single individual in a federal dog fighting case, according to the release.
Evidence also showed that Johnson had advertised many of his dogs as “champions” and “grand champions,” meaning they had won three or five fights, respectively. He is also said to have sold litters of puppies from favorable fighting bloodlines and “stud fees” for the right to breed with one of his male dogs. Proceeds totaled hundreds of thousands of dollars.
In a statement, Associate Attorney General Stanley E. Woodward Jr. said that Johnson would “face justice for building another particularly egregious and violent dog fighting scheme.”
“As Johnson was well aware, dogfighting is a felony in all 50 states,” the statement continued. “To anyone attempting to build violent and illicit business schemes: you can run, but you can’t hide from the Department of Justice.”
Johnson previously pleaded guilty in 2004 to Oklahoma dogfighting offenses in a separate case.
Johnson’s attorney, Billy Coyle IV, told ESPN that he had asked for probation for his client, arguing that Johnson had “zero criminal history points” — which doesn’t take into account past cases — and is a “medically compromised human being” suffering from severe dementia and Parkinson’s disease. In a pre-sentence memorandum, Coyle said Johnson has had a daily caretaker for the past two years.
“The main point was just to show the court that he’d been out on bond for pretrial release for over two years,” Coyle told ESPN. “He’s got no infractions whatsoever. He doesn’t drink. He doesn’t smoke. I don’t think the necessity of sending him to prison or jail was necessary.”
A final decision to appeal the sentencing has not yet been made.
Johnson played in the NFL from 1994 to 1999 with the Green Bay Packers, the Arizona Cardinals and the New York Giants. He also played for the now-defunct Chicago Enforcers in the XFL’s only season in 2001.
