LeShon Johnson, the former NFL running back whose career included one season with the Giants, was handed five years in federal prison after being convicted last year for his role in a dogfighting ring that the Justice Department had described as a “major operation.” 

The ex-Giant will serve the prison sentence, along with three years of supervised release and face a $30,000 fine following his conviction on six charges related to dogfighting.

In August 2025, he was found guilty of violating the federal Animal Welfare Act’s prohibitions against possessing, selling, transporting, and delivering animals to be used in fighting ventures. 

“LeShon Johnson will face justice for building another particularly egregious and violent dog fighting scheme,” Associate Attorney General Stanley E. Woodward Jr. said in a statement. “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.”

Authorities seized 190 dogs from Johnson’s property, marking the largest seizure of that kind in a federal dog fighting case, and said that he had been running a “major operation since at least 2007 that bred and sold fighting dogs for profit.”