A federal judge sentenced former NFL running back LeShon Johnson on Sept. 10 to five years in prison for operating a large-scale dogfighting ring out of his Broken Arrow-area property.

The judge in Muskogee also ordered Johnson, 55, to serve three years of supervised release and pay a $30,000 fine, News9 reported. A federal jury had found Johnson guilty in August 2025 on six of 23 dogfighting-related charges after a five-day trial and more than eight hours of deliberations.

The six felony counts included three counts of possessing a dog for use in an animal fighting venture, two counts of selling a dog for fighting and one count of sale, transport and delivery of a dog for fighting. All violated the federal Animal Welfare Act, according to CBS Sports.

Authorities seized 190 dogs from Johnson's property in 2024. The Department of Justice called it a record, the largest number of dogs ever taken from one individual in a federal dogfighting case.

Trial testimony showed Johnson had been running the operation since at least 2007 under the name "Mal Kant Kennels," prosecutors said. He bred and sold fighting dogs and their offspring, generating hundreds of thousands of dollars through puppy sales and stud fees. Prosecutors told the jury Johnson advertised some dogs as "champions" and "grand champions," terms meaning the animals had won three or five fights.

The DOJ said the operation caused death and serious bodily injury to hundreds of pit bulls.

Johnson had a prior state conviction. He pleaded guilty to Oklahoma dogfighting charges in 2004 while operating a kennel called "Krazyside Kennels" and received a five-year deferred sentence. Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Adam Gustafson said in a statement Thursday that Johnson continued trafficking dogs for illegal fighting despite that 2004 conviction.

Johnson's attorney, Billy Coyle IV, had asked for probation instead of prison, arguing Johnson suffers from severe dementia and Parkinson's disease linked to multiple concussions during his football career. Court documents stated Johnson has had a daily caretaker for the past two years.

"I don't think the necessity of sending him to prison or jail was necessary," Coyle told ESPN after the sentencing.

Coyle told ESPN, as reported by the New York Post, that he had recommended Johnson file an appeal. No final decision has been made.

Johnson played college football at Northern Illinois and was the 84th overall pick in the 1994 NFL Draft. He played for the Green Bay Packers, Arizona Cardinals and New York Giants from 1994 to 1999, rushing for 955 yards and five touchdowns in 62 games. His career was interrupted by a non-Hodgkin's lymphoma diagnosis in 1998.

The FBI's New Orleans Field Office and Shreveport Resident Agency investigated the case. The 190 seized dogs have been surrendered to the government, with the U.S. Marshals Service overseeing their care.