Update - September 13, 2024:
Flythe and Moorefield have each pleaded guilty. Sentencing for Flythe is scheduled for October 24. Moorefield learns his fate on December 2.
Original Story:
A senior Pentagon official is among two Anne Arundel County residents federally charged for allegedly running a dog fighting ring.
Frederick Douglass Moorefield, Jr., 62, of Arnold, and Mario Damon Flythe, 49, of Glen Burnie, are accused of using an encrypted messaging app to discuss nationwide dog fighting operations.
In the app, Moorefield, a Deputy Chief Information Officer for the U.S. Department of Defense, was known as “Geehad Kennels” with Flythe going by “Razor Sharp Kennels.”
Prosecutors say the two exchanged videos of dog fighting, while arranging and coordinating fights.
They also reportedly spoke about dogs who died and betting on fights.
Apparently there was talk on the app of how to avoid law enforcement.
On September 6 federal agents executed search warrants at Moorefield and Flythe’s homes.
They recovered twelve dogs along with steroids, training schedules, a blood stained carpet, and weighted dog vest marked “Geehad Kennels.”
Also seized was a device equipped with an electrical plug and jumper cables, which was used to electrocute dogs that lost fights.
If convicted both men face a maximum five-years behind bars. They've been released pending trial.
