Originally published October 3, 2023 2:35 pm PDT
The official had been part of the ring for over 20 years.
QUICK FACTS:
- Deputy Chief Information Officer for Command, Control, and Communications at the Office of the U.S. Secretary of Defense Frederick Douglass Moorefield, Jr. has been arrested and charged with operating a dogfighting ring for over two decades, in Washington, D.C.
- According to a press release, Moorefield was arrested alongside Mario Damon Flythe.
- Moorefield went by the name “Geehad Kennels” and Flythe went by the name “Razor Sharp Kennels.”
- Moorefield and Flythe used an “encrypted messaging application to communicate with individuals throughout the United States to discuss dogfighting,” the press release explained.
- The discussions outlined how to “train dogs for illegal dogfighting, exchanged videos about dogfighting, and arranged and coordinated dogfights.”
- “Moorefield and Flythe also discussed betting on dogfighting, discussed dogs that died as a result of dogfighting, and circulated media reports about dogfighters who had been caught by law enforcement,” the Department of Justice (DOJ) said.
- During the authorities’ search of Moorefield and Flythe’s residences, twelve dogs were found, as well as “veterinary steroids, training schedules, a carpet that appeared to be stained with blood, and a weighted dog vest with a patch reading ‘Geehad Kennels.'”
- Materials thought to be used to execute dogs were also obtained from the search.
FROM THE AFFIDAVIT:
- An affidavit obtained by The Washington Post referred to the dogfighting ring as “the DMV Board.”
- FBI Special Agent Ryan C. Daly wrote in the affidavit that Moorefield had been involved in dogfighting “since at least 2002.”
- The government official and Flythe were allegedly “experimenting with different types of performance enhancing drugs to improve [their] chances of winning dogfights.”
- Animal control and law enforcement officers had previously visited Moorefield, as county authorities were notified in 2018 of deceased dogs found in dog food bags near his residence.
- Nine other individuals involved in the dogfighting ring were indicted in Virginia last year, eight pleading guilty.
BACKGROUND:
- American Faith reported that the Department of Defense found China to be a “pacing challenge” for biodefense.
- Prior to the report’s August release, the DOD said it would put forth an extra $300 million per year over the next five years for biological threat preparedness.
- In describing biological weapons threats, the report noted, “The United States has compliance concerns with respect to PRC military medical institutions’ toxin research and development given their potential as a biothreat.”
- The U.S. government also believes that “North Korea and Russia maintain offensive biological weapons programs in violation of Biological Weapons and Toxins Convention (BWC) obligations and identifies concerns with Iran’s activities and its compliance with the BWC.”
