Ex-NFL RB LeShon Johnson sentenced to 5 years for dogfighting - ESPN

A former NFL running back was sentenced to five years in federal prison Thursday for operating a large-scale dogfighting ring in Oklahoma that «resulted in death and serious bodily injury» to hundreds of pit bulls, according to a Department of Justice release.

LeShon Johnson, who played for three NFL teams from 1994 to 1999, was convicted of six felonies last August in an Oklahoma federal court: three counts of possessing a dog for use in an animal fighting venture, two counts of selling a dog for use in an animal fighting venture, and one count of sale, transport and delivery of a dog for use in an animal fighting venture.

In addition to the prison sentence, Johnson will have three years of supervised release and must pay a $30,000 fine.

Johnson, 55, surrendered 190 dogs to the government after his conviction. The DOJ said in a news release that it's the largest number of dogs seized from one individual in a federal dogfighting case.

Johnson bred and trafficked pit bulls operating as «Mal Kant Kennels» in Oklahoma since at least 2007 and bred «champion and grand champion» pit bulls to create offspring with fighting traits. A champion fighting dog typically is a dog that won three fights and a grand champion is a dog that won five fights.

Prosecutors said in a 2025 news release announcing the indictment that Johnson «marketed and sold stud rights and offspring from winning fighting dogs to other dog fighters looking to incorporate the Mal Kant Kennels 'bloodline' into their own dog fighting operations.»

In 2004, Johnson pleaded guilty in state court on dogfighting charges and received a five-year deferred sentence, according to Oklahoma court records.

«LeShon Johnson will face justice for building another particularly