Former Green Bay Packers running back LeShon Johnson has been arrested in what FBI agents say is the largest federal dog fighting case in history.
According to reports, 190 dogs were seized from the 54-year-old’s home in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, and Johnson is facing federal charges for possessing them for use in an animal fighting venture and for selling, transporting and delivering a dog for use in an animal fighting venture.
News 2 Oklahoma reported that Johnson was also charged in a large dogfighting bust in Oklahoma in 2004. The site said he pleaded guilty to state animal cruelty charges then and got a five-year deferred sentence. If convicted this time around, News 2 said that Johnson faces a maximum penalty on each count of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
“Dog fighting is a cruel, blood-thirsty venture, not a legitimate business activity,” U.S. Attorney Christopher Jr. Wilson for the Eastern District of Oklahoma said. “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.”
Johnson played collegiately at Northen Illinois and was an All-American in 1993. He was taken in the third round, 84th-overall, of the 1994 draft by the Green Bay Packers and he played with the team through 1995. He then spent time with the Arizona Cardinals and New York Giants before wrapping up his NFL career in 1999.
He ran for 955 yards across his career and also caught 43 passes for 434 yards and scored seven touchdowns.
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