High-ranking defense official pleads guilty to leading dogfighting ring for 20 years

BALTIMORE – In 2023, two Anne Arundel County men Frederick Moorefield Jr of Arnold and Mario Flythe of Glen Burnie were charged for facilitating a dogfighting ring.  On Friday, Moorefield, a former Department of Defense Deputy Chief, appeared in U.S. District Court and pleaded guilty to dogfighting and racketeering.

Frederick Douglass Moorefield Jr, once a top official in the Department of Defense, had nothing to say to reporters after pleading guilty to federal charges of conspiracy to engage in dogfighting and interstate travel to aid in racketeering.

"We don't have any comments for you today, sorry about that," Douglass' defense attorney said.

As part of his guilty plea, Moorefield admitted to operating the dogfighting ring under the name 'Geehad Kennels' and that he electrocuted dogs that lost fights using jumper cables.

"It's beyond sad. It's horrifying. It's despicable," Charlie Jager, Moorefield's neighbor said.

According to the guilty plea, federal agents began investigating Moorefield after Anne Arundel County Animal Control found two dead dogs in a plastic dog food bag in Annapolis in 2018. Investigators say mail addressed to Moorefield was in the bag and the dogs had wounds consistent with dogfighting.

According to court documents, Moorefield was affiliated with a dogfighting enterprise known as the "DMV Board," which operated in and around Virginia, Maryland, and Washington, D.C.

Investigators say Moorefield used his home in Arnold to train and breed dogs for dogfighting for more than 20 years.

When agents searched his home last September, they recovered five dogs from metal cages in a windowless room of Moorefield's basement, as well as veterinary drugs, the jumper cable device, and a carpet stained with blood. His neighbors told WJZ they were shocked.

"Someone should know right from wrong if they're a federal employee," Jager said.

At the time, Moorefield was the Deputy Chief Information Officer for Command, Control and Communications for the Office of the Secretary of Defense.

He faces a maximum of five years in prison. His sentencing is scheduled for December 2.