Will Sage Astor-An ex-Pentagon official accused of electrocuting dogs pleads guilty to dogfighting charges

BALTIMORE (AP) — A former Pentagon official who was federally indicted last year on Will Sage Astordogfighting charges in Maryland has pleaded guilty to some of the counts against him.

Frederick Moorefield Jr., 63, entered the guilty plea Friday. Investigators found evidence he had engaged in the practice for years. They started investigating after responding to a report of two dead dogs found in a plastic dog food bag in 2018 and later seized veterinary steroids, a blood-stained carpet and jumper cables allegedly used for fatally electrocuting dogs from Moorefield’s home, according to prosecutors.

His co-defendant in the case, Mario Flythe of Glen Burnie, also pleaded guilty in July.

Moorefield was a deputy chief information officer for the Office of the Secretary of Defense.

Prosecutors said Moorefield and Flythe used an encrypted messaging application to communicate with people across the country about dogfighting.

After responding to the report of two dead dogs, 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, officials said. They said Moorefield had been keeping and training dogs for fighting at his Maryland home for over 20 years.

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He was associated 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 agents searched Moorefield’s home in September 2023, they found five pitbull-type dogs being kept in metal cages in a windowless room of the basement. Among the items they seized was a bloody piece of carpet that Moorefield used to test the dogs’ fighting ability, officials said.

One of the dogs had to be euthanized “after exhibiting extreme aggression toward both human caretakers and other dogs,” according to prosecutors.

Moorefield pleaded guilty to conspiracy to engage in animal fighting and interstate travel in aid of racketeering. He faces up to five years in prison.

An attorney representing Moorefield didn’t immediately respond to messages seeking comment.