TULSA, Okla. — Former Green Bay Packers running back Leshon Johnson received a five-year prison sentence September 10 following his conviction on six dogfighting related charges in Oklahoma last year.
Johnson’s sentence also includes three years of supervised release and a $30,000 fine. The 55-year-old from Broken Arrow, Oklahoma was convicted in August of 2025 on six felony counts of possessing dogs for use in an animal fighting venture. He was acquitted of 17 other similar counts.
PREVIOUS COVERAGE: Former NFL player convicted in large-scale dogfighting operation in Oklahoma
“LeShon Johnson will face justice for building another particularly egregious and violent dog fighting scheme,” said Associate Attorney General Stanley E. Woodward Jr. in a news release. “As Johnson was well aware, dog fighting is a felony in all 50 states. To anyone attempting to build violent and illicit business schemes: you can run, but you can’t hide from the Department of Justice.”
As part of the investigation in 2024, authorities seized 190 dogs which the Department of Justice said was the most ever taken from one person in a federal dogfighting investigation.
Johnson previously pleaded guilty to state animal fighting charges in 2004 in Oklahoma; court documents show he received a five-year deferred sentence connected to those charges.
“LeShon Johnson continued to traffic dogs for illegal fighting despite a 2004 state conviction for similar conduct,” said Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Adam Gustafson of the Justice Department’s Energy and Natural Resources Division in the September 10 release.
Johnson played for the Packers from 1994 to 1995. His career also included stints on the Arizona Cardinals and New York Giants in the NFL, as well as the Chicago Enforcers in the first iteration of the XFL.
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