U.S. Justice Department accused Mr Johnson of running an operation code-named ‘Mal Kant Kennels’, specifically breeding dogs for fighting before selling them for profit.
The United States Department of Justice announced the sentencing in a press release on Thursday, saying the 55-year-old also received a three-year supervised release after completing his sentence and a $30,000 fine.
Despite initially pleading guilty to dogfighting offences in Oklahoma in 2004, prosecutors stated testimony during the latest trial showed that Mr Johnson continued to run the revived dog trafficking operations since at least 2007.
The Justice Department accused the ex-Green Bay Packers of running an operation code-named ‘Mal Kant Kennels’, specifically breeding dogs for fighting before selling them for profit.
“Testimony at trial showed that Johnson — who pleaded guilty in 2004 to Oklahoma dog fighting offences — had been running a major operation since at least 2007 that bred and sold fighting dogs for profit,” the Office of Public Affairs said.
During the trial, the jury heard from the prosecutors how the convict bred and trafficked hundreds of dogs around the country for the sole purpose of fighting.
Authorities reportedly confiscated 190 dogs from Mr Johnson’s property, the largest number ever seized from a single individual in a federal fighting case.
Additionally, Mr Johnson advertised many of his dogs as “champions” and “grand champions,” meaning they had won three or five fights, respectively, while boasting about their fighting prowess.
He also charged what he called ‘stud fees’ for litters of puppies from favourable fighting bloodlines as well as the right to breed with one of his male dogs, earning hundreds of thousands of dollars in the process.
“LeShon Johnson continued to traffic dogs for illegal fighting despite a 2004 state conviction for similar conduct,” Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Adam Gustafson of the Justice Department’s Energy and Natural Resources Division (ENRD) said regarding the case.
“We are grateful to our colleagues at the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Oklahoma and the FBI for partnering with ENRD to bring this repeat offender to justice and to the U.S. Marshals Service for executing the biggest rescue operation of its kind,” he added.
