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The federal authorities have accused a 62-year-old Department of Defense employee of being involved in an illegal dog fighting ring.
Frederick Douglass Moorefield was a deputy chief information officer for command, control, and communications for the Office of the Secretary of Defense, per an affidavit seen by Insider.
Moorefield was charged along with a 49-year-old barber, Mario Damon Flythe, per the document. Both men are accused of using Telegram, an encrypted messaging application, to coordinate dog fights.
On Telegram, Moorefield and his associates discussed topics from training methods for illegal dogfighting and ways they could evade arrest for arranging these fights, per the affidavit.
The authorities executed a search warrant on Moorefield's Maryland home on September 6, and found a device consisting of jumper cables attached to an electrical plug. The device may have been used to electrocute dogs after they lost a fight, per the document.
Five pit bull-type dogs, a dog training schedule, and a weighted dog vest with the words "Geehad Kennels" emblazoned on it were also found at Moorefield's home. Officers also found a stained gray carpet that appeared "consistent with blood stains derived from multiple dogfights," per the affidavit.
The authorities' investigation of Moorefield's phone and online records also revealed that Moorefield had been involved in dog fights since 2002, per the affidavit.
Moorefield and Flythe have been released pending trial following his arraignment, per a press release from the US attorney's office for the District of Maryland.
According to the press release, Moorefield and Flythe each face a maximum sentence of five years if they are convicted of their charges.
In a statement to The Washington Post, Pentagon spokesperson Tim Gorman said that Moorefield was "no longer in the workplace." Gorman's statement didn't say if Moorefield had been fired or suspended.
The DoD did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.
