Frederick Douglass Moorefield, Jr., Dogfighting and Racketeering, Maryland 2023

Arnold Man Pleads Guilty to Dogfighting and Racketeering

Baltimore, Maryland – Frederick Douglass Moorefield, Jr., age 63, of Arnold, Maryland, pleaded guilty today to federal charges of conspiracy to engage in animal fighting, specifically the fighting of dogs, and interstate travel in aid of racketeering.

The guilty plea was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Erek L. Barron; Acting Special Agent in Charge David Geist of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Washington Field Office- Criminal and Cyber Division; Special Agent in Charge Charmeka Parker of the U.S. Department of Agriculture Office of Inspector General; Special Agent in Charge Christopher Dillard of the Department of Defense Office of Inspector General; Defense Criminal Investigative Service – Mid-Atlantic Field Office; U.S. Marshal for Maryland Clinton Fuchs; and Anne Arundel County Police Chief Amal E. Awad.

According to the guilty plea, federal agents began investigating Moorefield’s connections to dogfighting after officers from Anne Arundel County Animal Control responded to a report of two dead dogs found in a plastic dog food bag in Annapolis, Maryland in November 2018. Investigators found mail addressed to Moorefield inside the bag, and a necropsy determined that the dogs bore wounds and scarring patterns consistent with their having been used in dogfighting.

Moorefield was affiliated with a dogfighting enterprise known as the “DMV Board,” which operated in and around Virginia, Maryland, and Washington, D.C. Numerous other members of the DMV Board have been convicted on dogfighting charges in the Eastern District of Virginia. Moorefield operated under the kennel name “Geehad Kennels” and used his home in Arnold, Maryland to keep, train, and breed dogs for dogfighting for over 20 years.

A review of Moorefield’s phone and iCloud account showed numerous message exchanges regarding dogfighting with other members of the DMV Board. In addition to arranging fights and wagers, Moorefield and other members of the DMV Board discussed the breeding and training of fighting dogs, procuring supplies for the maintenance and feeding of fighting dogs, and criminal investigations and prosecutions of dogfighters. In some exchanges, Moorefield and others discussed the indictments of DMV Board members and speculated about the identity of a “snitch” in the group.

Moorefield’s messages also contained several exchanges arranging—or “hooking”—dogfights. In these conversations, Moorefield would “call out a weight” by identifying the weight and sex of the dog he wanted to sponsor in a fight. Other dogfighters would then propose a fight against their own dogs or match Moorefield with another of their contacts who had a dog in the same weight class. The dogfighters would then agree on wagers and set a date for the fight, usually six to eight weeks after the match was made. In addition to stating the amount to be paid to the winner of the fight, dogfighters agreed on forfeit—or “fit”—payments to be made in the event that a dogfighter backed out of the fight before it was scheduled to take place.

Frederick Douglass Moorefield, Jr. is scheduled to be sentenced on a later date. He faces up to 5 years in prison and a $250,000 fine for each charge. Moorefield was affiliated with a dogfighting enterprise known as the “DMV Board,” which operated in and around Virginia, Maryland, and Washington, D.C.

Source: https://www.justice.gov/usao-md/pr/arnold-man-and-former-department-defense-deputy-chief-pleads-guilty-conspiracy-engage