A former Pentagon official pleaded guilty Friday to conspiring to run a dogfighting ring and racketeering, as part of a group known as “DMV Board,” which operated in and around Virginia, Maryland, and Washington, D.C.

Frederick Douglass Moorefield Jr., 63, of Arnold, admitted to operating under the kennel name “Geehad Kennels” and using his home in Arnold to keep, train, and breed dogs for dogfighting for over 20 years.

According to a plea agreement filed in U.S. District Court in Maryland, Moorefield would use messaging apps to “call out a weight” by identifying the weight and sex of the dog he wanted to sponsor in a fight. To set the match, other dogfighters would then propose a fight against their own dogs or put Moorefield in touch with someone 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.

The Baltimore Banner thanks its sponsors. Become one.

Moorefield trained dogs using treadmills, weighted collars, a diet plan and steroids obtained through the dogfighting network, not legitimate veterinary prescriptions, according to the plea agreement.

Fights sponsored by Moorefield ended when a dog died, or the owner of the other dog forfeited the match. When one of Moorefield’s dogs lost a fight but did not die, Moorefield killed that dog, sometimes by electrocution, according to the plea agreement.

One of the dogs seized from "Geehad Kennels" in Arnold.
One of the dogs seized from "Geehad Kennels" in Arnold. (U.S. District Court Maryland)
A weighted vest of a size that would fit a dog’s body seized from “Geehad Kennels” in Arnold in 2023.
A weighted vest of a size that would fit a dog’s body was seized from “Geehad Kennels” in Arnold in 2023. The owner of the kennels, a former Pentagon official, pleaded guilty to running a dogfighting ring. (U.S. District Court Maryland)

Between January 2019 and October 2023, Moorefield sent and received cash payments through CashApp related to his participation in dogfighting. Some of the transactions were given misleading labels, such as “housewarming gift” to hide the nature of the transaction, according to the plea agreement.

When charges were initially filed against Moorefield, he was the deputy chief information officer for command, control, and communications for the Office of the Secretary of Defense. The Defense Department said in October that Moorefield was no longer employed there.

Moorefield is scheduled to be sentenced Dec. 2.

A co-defendant in the case, Mario Damon Flythe, 50, of Glen Burnie, who ran Razor Sharp Kennels, pleaded guilty in July to the same charges as Moorefield. Flythe is scheduled for sentencing Oct. 24.