Ex-Defense Department official pleads guilty to running a dogfighting kennel

BALTIMORE — A former Department of Defense official from Arnold, Maryland has pleaded guilty to charges related to running a dogfighting kennel.

Frederick Douglass Moorefield Jr., 63, pleaded guilty to federal charges of conspiracy to engage in animal fighting — specifically dogs — and interstate travel in aid of racketeering.

The disturbing case of animal abuse began back in Nov. 2018, when officers from Anne Arundel County Animal Control responded to a report of two dead dogs found in a plastic dog food bag in Annapolis. Investigators also found mail addressed to Moorefield inside the bag, and a necropsy determined that the dogs had wounds and scars consistent with dogfighting.

Through the course of the yearslong investigation, prosecutors say they connected Moorefield to a known dogfighting enterprise called the “DMV Board,” and say he also ran a dogfighting kennel named “Geehad Kennels.” For more than twenty years, Moorefield used his home to keep, train, and breed dogs for the sole purpose of dog fighting.

A search of his residence on Sept. 6, 2023, led to the recovery of five pitbull-type dogs from large metal cages in a windowless basement room. Agents also found several containers of illegally obtained animal medication, dog food, and protein powder in the same room, as well as a jumper-cable device prosecutors say Moorefield used to electrocute dogs. A bloody carpet was also recovered during the search.

A review of Moorefield’s phone and iCloud account revealed several messages and media related to the breeding, training and fighting of dogs. Other evidence in the case included disguised monetary exchanges made between Jan. 2019, and Oct. 2023, through CashApp that were actually payments for dogfighting. This includes $1,000 labeled as a “housewarming gift” from a known dogfighter in 2022, even though Moorefield lived at the same address for over two decades.

Moorefield was charged in Oct. 2023, while he was serving as the Deputy Chief Information Officer for Command, Control, and Communications for the Office of the Secretary of Defense.

Moorefield's sentencing has been scheduled for Dec. 2, 2024, and he faces a maximum of five years in prison. U.S. District Judge Richard D. Bennett is presiding over the case.