Former NFL running back LeShon Johnson receives five-year prison term for dog-fighting ring

LeShon Johnson, who played in the NFL from 1994 to 1999 and finished his career in the XFL, was handed a five-year federal prison term after being found guilty of six violations of the Animal Welfare Act. Prosecutors described his Oklahoma operation, run under the name Mal Kant Kennels, as a "major" dog-fighting enterprise that bred, sold, and transported fighting dogs for profit, seizing 190 animals—the largest seizure in such a case.

Associate Attorney General Stanley E. Woodward Jr. emphasized that dog fighting is a felony nationwide. In addition to imprisonment, Johnson faces three years of supervised release and a $30,000 fine. His attorney Billy Coyle IV indicated that an appeal may be pursued. Johnson had previously pleaded guilty to state dog-fighting charges in 2004.