Glen Burnie man pleads guilty in dogfighting ring that allegedly included Pentagon official

A Glen Burnie man pleaded guilty Tuesday to participating in a dogfighting ring that spanned several states and allegedly included a Department of Defense official from Arnold, who still faces charges in federal court.

Mario Damon Flythe, a 50-year-old barber accused in court documents of using the name “Razor Sharp Kennels” for dogfighting, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to engage in animal fighting and interstate travel in aid of a racketeering conspiracy in U.S. District Court in Baltimore.

He faces a maximum of up to 10 years in federal prison at his sentencing Oct. 24. As part of his plea agreement, Flythe admitted to raising dogs for fights that ended only when a dog died or one of the dog’s owners stopped the attack.

The other defendant, 63-year-old Frederick Douglass Moorefield Jr., pleaded not guilty at his first court appearance last year and is set to face trial in October.

Moorefield was listed as the Pentagon’s deputy chief information officer for command, control and communications on the U.S. Department of Defense website when the charges were filed. He no longer appears on the site and the Defense Department did not respond to a request Tuesday for Moorefield’s current employment status.

Charging documents in the case say Moorefield used the moniker “Geehad Kennels” for participating in a dogfighting ring that communicated using the encrypted messaging app Telegram.

An FBI affidavit supporting criminal charges against Moorefield and Flythe alleged that investigators identified the two men with assistance from former dogfighters who were convicted in a Virginia dogfighting case. The group, which was known internally as the “DMV Board,” contained as many as 28 members at a time, according to the affidavit.

Records discovered on an online dog pedigree website showed that a person using the “Geehad” moniker has been involved in dogfighting since 2002, an FBI agent wrote in the affidavit. A cooperating witness described participating in a dogfight against one of Moorefield’s dogs around 2009, the agent wrote.

The affidavit lays out evidence against Moorefield that includes text messages between him and other dogfighters seeking matchups for his dogs, a computer image of a pit bull-type dog with the name “Geehad Kennels” prominently displayed, a training schedule for dogs, and pictures and videos of dogs in cages or bearing scars consistent with dogfighting.

Federal authorities also commissioned a necropsy in late 2018 after Anne Arundel County Animal Control officers found two dead, scarred dogs in a plastic dog food bag disposed about 6 miles from Moorefield’s house, the affidavit says. Investigators reported finding mail addressed to Moorefield in the bag.

The county animal control agency also told authorities it had been responding to Flythe’s residence for animal cruelty and dogfighting allegations since around 2008.

Another cooperating witness told authorities that Moorefield was affiliated with “Razor Sharp Kennels,” Flythe’s dogfighting nickname, according to the affidavit. Flythe and Moorefield spoke more than 700 times between April 2022 and 2023 and exchanged messages about bets, fights, dead dogs and performance-enhancing drugs, the FBI agent wrote.

The FBI also located messages from Moorefield where he described a person named Mario as “my fat barber,” a description consistent with Flythe, according to the affidavit, along with messages about an upcoming dogfight involving a 35-pound female dog.

Last September, federal investigators searched Moorefield’s home and found five pit bull-type dogs in thick-barred metal cages in his basement, as well as veterinary medicine, blood-stained carpeting, weighted collars, heavy metal chains and jumper cables, which the FBI said are used to electrocute dogs after losing fights.

Seven pit bull-type dogs were found at Flythe’s residence, according to the affidavit. Assistant U.S. Attorney Darryl Tarver said in court Tuesday that four of the dogs were chained to posts in cages in the backyard and three were found in large metal cages in the basement. Four of the seven dogs were infested with fleas and the animals did not have access to clean water, Tarver said.

Agents found metal cages and a privacy fence in Flythe’s backyard and dogfighting paraphernalia including weighted collars and a carpeted treadmill, according to the FBI affidavit.

Flythe told investigators he had engaged in dogfighting in the past and said he had been friends with Moorefield for more than 10 years, the agent wrote.

According to his plea agreement, Flythe used his home in Glen Burnie to keep and train dogs for several years. He arranged “hooks,” or dog fights with an agreed-upon bet, in discussions with other members of the DMV ring, Tarver said.

Flythe would ready the dogs with a training regimen, diet and steroids that he obtained through contacts in dogfighting circles, Tarver said.

“The fight ended only when a dog died” or an owner forfeited the match, the prosecutor said.

Flythe will have to surrender $2,800 he made from dogfighting as part of the plea.

Flythe’s lawyer, James Tuomey, declined to comment after the plea hearing. The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Baltimore also declined to comment.