Arnold Man And Former Department Of Defense Deputy Chief Pleads Guilty To Conspiracy To Engage In Dogfighitng And Interstate Travel In Aid Of Racketeering

Press Release

As Part of His Guilty Plea, Defendant Admitted that He Operated Under the Dogfighting Kennel Name "Geehad Kennels" and that He Electrocuted Dogs that Lost Fights Using a Homemade Device Consisting of Jumper Cables Connected Directly to a Plug

Baltimore, Maryland - Frederick Douglass Moorefield, Jr., age 63, of Arnold, Maryland, pleaded guilty today to federal charges of conspiracy to engage in animal fighting, specifically the fighting of dogs, and interstate travel in aid of racketeering.

The guilty plea was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Erek L. Barron; Special Agent in Charge David Geist of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Washington Field Office- Criminal and Cyber Division; Special Agent in Charge Charmeka Parker of the U.S. Department of Agriculture Office of Inspector General; Special Agent in Charge Christopher Dillard of the Department of Defense Office of Inspector General; Defense Criminal Investigative Service - Mid-Atlantic Field Office; U.S. Marshal for Maryland Clinton Fuchs; and Anne Arundel County Police Chief Amal E. Awad.

According to the guilty plea, federal agents began investigating Moorefield's connections to dogfighting after officers from Anne Arundel County Animal Control responded to a report of two dead dogs found in a plastic dog food bag in Annapolis, Maryland in November 2018. Investigators found mail addressed to Moorefield inside the bag, and a necropsy determined that the dogs bore wounds and scarring patterns consistent with their having been used in dogfighting.

Moorefield was affiliated with a dogfighting enterprise known as the "DMV Board," which operated in and around Virginia, Maryland, and Washington, D.C. Numerous other members of the DMV Board have been convicted on dogfighting charges in the Eastern District of Virginia. Moorefield operated under the kennel name "Geehad Kennels" and used his home in Arnold, Maryland to keep, train, and breed dogs for dogfighting for over 20 years.

A review of Moorefield's phone and iCloud account showed numerous message exchanges regarding dogfighting with other members of the DMV Board. In addition to arranging fights and wagers, Moorefield and other members of the DMV Board discussed the breeding and training of fighting dogs, procuring supplies for the maintenance and feeding of fighting dogs, and criminal investigations and prosecutions of dogfighters. In some exchanges, Moorefield and others discussed the indictments of DMV Board members and speculated about the identity of a "snitch" in the group.

Moorefield's messages also contained several exchanges arranging-or "hooking"-dogfights. In these conversations, Moorefield would "call out a weight" by identifying the weight and sex of the dog he wanted to sponsor in a fight. Other dogfighters would then propose a fight against their own dogs or match Moorefield with another of their contacts who had a dog in the same weight class. The dogfighters would then agree on wagers and set a date for the fight, usually six to eight weeks after the match was made. In addition to stating the amount to be paid to the winner of the fight, dogfighters agreed on forfeit-or "fit"-payments to be made in the event that a dogfighter backed out of the fight before it was scheduled to take place.

After hooking a fight, Moorefield trained his dogs in a process known as a "keep." Moorefield's typical keep schedule for a dog involved physical training (using treadmills, weighted collars, and other accessories), a diet plan, and the use of steroids. Moorefield obtained steroids and other veterinary drugs through various contacts in his dogfighting network, not through legitimate veterinary prescriptions.

When Moorefield sponsored a dog in a fight, the fight ended only when a dog died or when the owner forfeited the match-either through the dog "quitting" the fight or the owner "picking up" the dog. In the event that one of Moorefield's dogs lost a fight but did not die, Moorefield killed that dog. One method of killing employed by Moorefield involved the use of a device consisting of jumper cables connected directly to an ordinary plug. Moorefield plugged the device into a wall socket and attached the cables to the dog, electrocuting it.

Between January 2019 and October 2023, Moorefield sent and received monetary payments through CashApp related to his participation in dogfighting. In some instances, transactions were given misleading labels in order to disguise the true nature of the transferred money, such as a transaction in which Moorefield received $1,000 labeled as a "housewarming gift" from a known dogfighter in 2022, even though Moorefield has lived at the same address for over two decades.

When agents searched Moorefield's residence on September 6, 2023, they recovered five pitbull-type dogs from large metal cages in a windowless room of Moorefield's basement. Agents also found several containers of animal medication, dog food, and protein powder in the same room, as well as the jumper-cable device referenced above, which Moorefield used to kill dogs that were no longer fit for use in dogfighting. Agents seized a large piece of folded-up carpet from a shed on the property, and this carpet appeared to be stained in several places with blood. Moorefield used the carpet as the floor of an arena to stage dogfights or "rolls" (brief test fights between dogs to evaluate the dogs' fighting ability).

When interviewed by agents, Moorefield stated that he had only recently obtained-within the past week-four of the five dogs found on the property. The dog that Moorefield did not obtain recently was diagnosed as exhibiting calloused skin and an old injury, in addition to being infested with fleas. That dog had to be humanely euthanized after exhibiting extreme aggression toward both human caretakers and other dogs. Moorefield bred and/or trained all five dogs recovered from his property for the purposes of sponsoring them in dogfights.

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

Moorefield faces a maximum of five years in prison for conspiring to engage in an animal fighting conspiracy. U.S. District Judge Richard D. Bennett has scheduled sentencing for December 2, 2024 at 2:30 p.m.

United States Attorney Erek L. Barron commended the FBI, the United States Department of Agriculture - Office of the Inspector General, the Defense Criminal Investigative Service, the U.S. Marshals Service, the Anne Arundel County Police Department, Anne Arundel County Animal Control, and thanked the United States Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Virginia for their valuable assistance in the investigation. Mr. Barron thanked Assistant U.S. Attorneys Alexander Levin and Darryl Tarver, who are prosecuting the federal case.

For more information on the Maryland U.S. Attorney's Office, its priorities, and resources available to help the community, please visit www.justice.gov/usao-md and https://www.justice.gov/usao-md/community-outreach.

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Updated September 13, 2024