United States of America v. Norman Dixon

Newman, Georgia criminal defense lawyer represented the Defendant charged with dogfighting and CARES Act Fraud.

Norman Dixson arraigned on federal charges of sponsoring and exhibiting a dog in an animal fighting venture, promoting an animal fighting venture, animal crushing, and wire fraud.

“The indictment alleges that Dixson viciously abused dogs and repeatedly lied to obtain COVID relief funds,” said U.S. Attorney Theodore S. Hertzberg. “This depraved and deceitful conduct cannot be tolerated and commands aggressive prosecution.”

“An important part of the mission of the Office of Inspector General is to investigate allegations of fraud involving the unemployment insurance program. This collaborative investigative effort with our federal partners reaffirms our commitment to investigate these types of allegations,” said Mathew Broadhurst, Special Agent-in-Charge, Southeast Region, U.S. Department of Labor, Office of Inspector General.

According to U.S. Attorney Hertzberg, the charges, and other information presented in court: Dixson is accused of sponsoring and exhibiting dogs in animal fighting ventures on seven occasions. He is also accused of promoting an animal fighting venture and purposefully suffocating a dog.

In addition to the dogfighting- and animal abuse-related offenses, Dixson was charged with defrauding the Small Business Administration and a commercial lender by corruptly obtaining Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans. The indictment alleges, among other untruths, that Dixson submitted a false tax form when obtaining the PPP loans and then lied again when seeking forgiveness for the PPP loans he received.

Finally, Dixson was charged with conducting Unemployment Insurance (UI) fraud by submitting fraudulent claims to the Indiana Department of Workforce Development. The indictment alleges that, to steal UI benefits, Dixson filed false and fraudulent applications for UI benefits on behalf of himself and others.

Norman Dixson, 34, of Griffin, Ga., was arraigned on December 4, 2025, before U.S. Magistrate Judge Russell G. Vineyard. He was indicted by a federal grand jury on October 28, 2025.

Members of the public are reminded that the indictment only contains charges. The defendant is presumed innocent of the charges, and it will be the government’s burden to prove the defendant’s guilt beyond a reasonable doubt at trial.

This case is being investigated by the U.S. Department of Agriculture - Office of Inspector General and the U.S. Department of Labor - Office of Inspector General.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Alex Sistla and Samir Kaushal are prosecuting the case.

An indictment is not proof of guilt.