BALTIMORE (AP)– A previous Pentagon official that was federally indicted in 2014 on dogfighting charges in Maryland has actually pleaded guilty to a few of the counts versus him.
Frederick Moorefield Jr., 63, went into the guilty plea Friday. Detectives located proof he had participated in the method for years. They started exploring after reacting to a record of two dead canines located in a plastic dog food bag in 2018 and later confiscated veterinary steroids, a blood-stained rug and jumper cables supposedly used for fatally electrocuting pet dogs from Moorefield’s home, according to prosecutors.
His co-defendant in case, Mario Flythe of Glen Burnie, additionally begged guilty in July.
Moorefield was a deputy chief details officer for the Office of the Assistant of Protection.
District attorneys stated Moorefield and Flythe made use of an encrypted messaging application to communicate with individuals throughout the nation concerning dogfighting.
After reacting to the report of two dead canines, detectives discovered mail addressed to Moorefield inside the bag, and a necropsy established that the dogs birthed injuries and scarring patterns constant with their having been used in dogfighting, authorities stated. They stated Moorefield had actually been maintaining and educating canines for combating at his Maryland home for over two decades.
He was connected with a dogfighting ring that operated in Virginia, Maryland and Washington, D.C. Officials said the ring organized dogfights and members would place bets on the outcomes.
“In the event that one of Moorefield’s dogs lost a fight but did not die, Moorefield killed that dog,” officials with the Maryland U.S. Attorney’s Office said in a news release Friday. “One method of killing employed by Moorefield involved the use of a device consisting of jumper cables connected directly to an ordinary plug. Moorefield plugged the device into a wall socket and attached the cables to the dog, electrocuting it.”
When representatives browsed Moorefield’s home in September 2023, they found five pitbull-type canines being kept in metal cages in a windowless space of the basement. Among the things they seized was a bloody piece of carpet that Moorefield used to check the pets’ combating ability, officials said.
Among the pet dogs needed to be euthanized “after exhibiting severe hostility toward both human caretakers and various other pets,” according to prosecutors.
Moorefield begged guilty to conspiracy theory to participate in animal combating and interstate travel in help of racketeering. He faces up to 5 years behind bars.
An attorney standing for Moorefield didn’t promptly react to messages seeking comment.
