Former Giants running back LeShon Johnson has been sentenced to five years in prison after being convicted of running an illegal dogfighting ring.
Johnson, 55, was also ordered to pay a $30,000 fine after his August conviction on six felony counts tied to the possession, selling and trafficking of animals used for fighting. He played for the Giants in 1999 and rushed for two touchdowns that season.
The Oklahoma native’s case led to the seizure of 190 dogs after his arrest, a number the Department of Justice said was the largest ever taken from one person in a federal dogfighting case. Johnson also spent time with the Green Bay Packers and Arizona Cardinals.
This was not his first dogfighting case. Johnson previously received a deferred five-year sentence after pleading guilty to dogfighting offenses in 2004, when he operated Krazyside Kennels. Prosecutors said he started another operation in 2007 under the name Mal Kant Kennels and was accused of breeding and trafficking “hundreds of dogs for the purpose of dog fighting around the country.”
Special Agent in Charge Jonathan Tapp of the FBI New Orleans Field Office addressed the sentence in a statement: “The animals in this case were defenseless and the defendant used them to harm each other for his entertainment.”
Johnson’s lawyer reportedly argues that his client suffered “ traumatic brain injuries ” from playing professional football and should not be incarcerated. Billy Coyle IV told ESPN, “He doesn’t drink.
He doesn’t smoke. I don’t think the necessity of sending him to prison or jail was necessary,”
Kevin Chambers, the Oklahoma state director for Animal Wellness Action, said in response: “Dogfighting is a calculated enterprise in which animals are bred, conditioned, and placed in a pit to maul each other for gambling and entertainment, a heinous crime of cruelty,” he said in a statement addressing Johnson’s sentence. “We commend federal prosecutors for dismantling this operation and putting Johnson in prison.”
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