Frederick Douglass Moorefield Jr., 62, of Arnold, Md., was charged with “promoting” a dogfighting ring in the area of Washington, D.C.
That’s according to court records filed last week in the U.S. District Court of Baltimore.
Moorefield was a deputy chief information officer for command, control and communications at the Pentagon. But he is no longer working at the Pentagon, U.S. defense officials said.
“We can confirm that the individual is no longer in the workplace, but we cannot comment further on an individual personnel matter,” a spokesperson told The Hill.
Pentagon deputy press secretary Sabrina Singh declined to say what level of security clearance Moorefield had but stressed more details would come out soon.
“Why or were behaviors caught when it should have been — that’s something that will be revealed, of course, as the Department of Justice leads this investigation,” she said at a briefing.
Moorefield is accused of coordinating and betting on dog fights with a friend, and police allegedly found 12 dogs and other suspicious supplies during home raids.
Animal rights groups pointed out that the dogfighting ring in question allegedly euthanized dogs that did not die during matches.
Wayne Pacelle, president of Animal Wellness Action, said the “scale of the problem is staggering.”
“We must respond with even more vigorous efforts to pull up animal fighting at the root,” Pacelle said in a statement. “No dog should endure the kind of pain and torment that fighting animals endure in the pit and after their handlers decide they are no longer useful to them.”
Read the full report here.
