BALTIMORE, MD—A former high-ranking Department of Defense official was sentenced on Thursday to 18 months in federal prison for his involvement in a multi-state dogfighting conspiracy.

Frederick Douglass Moorefield, Jr., 64, of Arnold, Maryland, was also sentenced to six months of home detention and a $20,000 fine, followed by three years of supervised release. In addition to the fine, Moorefield was ordered to pay a $21,576 forfeiture.

U.S. Attorney for the District of Maryland Erek L. Barron announced the sentence.

Moorefield pleaded guilty after federal agents began investigating his connection to dogfighting following the discovery of two dead dogs in a plastic dog food bag in Annapolis, Maryland, in November 2018. Investigators found Moorefield’s mail inside the bag, and a necropsy revealed dogfighting wounds and scarring patterns on the dogs.

Investigators later determined Moorefield’s involvement with the “DMV Board,” a dogfighting enterprise operating in Maryland, Virginia, and Washington, D.C. Other DMV Board members have been convicted of dogfighting in the Eastern District of Virginia.

Moorefield kept, trained, and bred dogs for dogfighting at his home under the kennel name “Geehad Kennels” for over 20 years.

Prosecutors say Moorefield’s involvement in dogfighting included arranging fights, breeding and training fighting dogs, and procuring supplies for the maintenance and feeding of fighting dogs. He also communicated with other members of the DMV Board about criminal investigations and prosecutions of dogfighters.

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

This article was written with the assistance of AI and reviewed by a human editor.

Photo by Sora Shimazaki from Pexels