A former Packers running back is headed to federal prison after a jury found him guilty in one of the biggest dogfighting seizures the Justice Department has ever tied to a single person.
LeShon Johnson was sentenced Thursday to five years in prison, along with three years of supervised release and a $30,000 fine. The 55-year-old had already been convicted on six felony counts connected to possessing, selling and delivering dogs for fighting.
The Justice Department said agents seized 190 dogs from Johnson’s Oklahoma property, calling it the largest canine seizure ever linked to one person in a federal dogfighting case. Prosecutors said Johnson had been breeding and trafficking pit bulls through Mal Kant Kennels since at least 2007, selecting for fighting traits and selling stud rights and offspring from winning bloodlines.
Dogs were advertised as champions and grand champions, labels that mean three wins or five wins. Trial evidence showed profits in the hundreds of thousands of dollars over four years.
Associate Attorney General Stanley E. Woodward Jr. described the case as another “particularly egregious and violent dog fighting scheme.”
He added, “As Johnson was well aware, dog fighting is a felony in all 50 states. To anyone attempting to build violent and illicit business schemes: you can run, but you can’t hide from the Department of Justice.”
This wasn’t Johnson’s first brush with dogfighting charges. In 2004, he pleaded guilty to state dogfighting charges and received a five-year deferred sentence. He previously ran Krazyside Kennels, and the federal case said the newer ring led to death and serious injury for hundreds of pit bulls.
Johnson’s lawyer, Billy Coyle IV, asked for probation and told ESPN that Johnson has dementia and Parkinson’s after multiple concussions and needs a daily caretaker. The judge did not go that route and imposed the 60-month sentence.
Johnson’s football résumé once looked far different. At Northern Illinois in 1993, he led Division I with 1,975 rushing yards and finished sixth in Heisman voting, behind winner Charlie Ward.
Green Bay took him in the third round, and his best NFL season came with Arizona in 1996, when he ran for 634 yards and three touchdowns. He also played for the Giants before his career ended after 1999.
The case inevitably brings back the Michael Vick comparison. Vick served 21 months after the 2007 Bad Newz Kennels case and later said one person warned him and he did not listen. Even recent backlash over dog photos involving current stars has dragged that name back into the conversation.
The Justice Department said Johnson surrendered the 190 dogs after the 2025 conviction. His prison term begins now.
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