Griffin Man Charged with Dogfighting and CARES Act Fraud (Press Release, December 10, 2025)

Summary

Press release of the U.S. Attorney's Office, Northern District of Georgia, dated December 10, 2025. Norman Dixson of Griffin, Georgia was 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 release says the indictment alleges he sponsored and exhibited dogs on seven occasions and defrauded the Small Business Administration and a commercial lender by obtaining Paycheck Protection Program loans using a false tax form and false forgiveness statements. It also alleges unemployment insurance fraud through false claims to the Indiana Department of Workforce Development. He was indicted on October 28, 2025 and arraigned on December 4, 2025; the indictment only contains charges.

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PRESS RELEASE


Griffin man charged with dogfighting and
CARES Act fraud
Wednesday, December 10, 2025

For Immediate Release
U.S. Attorney's Office, Northern District of Georgia

NEWNAN, Ga. - Norman Dixson has been 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.

On May 17, 2021, the Attorney General established the COVID-19 Fraud Enforcement
Task Force to marshal the resources of the Department of Justice in partnership with
agencies across government to enhance efforts to combat and prevent pandemic-
related fraud. The Task Force bolsters efforts to investigate and prosecute the most
culpable domestic and international criminal actors and assists agencies tasked with
administering relief programs to prevent fraud by, among other methods, augmenting
and incorporating existing coordination mechanisms, identifying resources and
techniques to uncover fraudulent actors and their schemes, and sharing and harnessing
information and insights gained from prior enforcement efforts. For more information
on the Department’s response to the pandemic, please
visit https://www.justice.gov/coronavirus

Anyone with information about allegations of attempted fraud involving COVID-19 can
report it by calling the Department of Justice’s National Center for Disaster Fraud
(NCDF) Hotline at 866-720-5721 or via the NCDF Web Complaint Form
at: https://www.justice.gov/disaster-fraud/ncdf-disaster-complaint-form.

For further information please contact the U.S. Attorney’s Public Affairs Office
at USAGAN.PressEmails@usdoj.gov or (404) 581-6016. The Internet address for the U.S.
Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia is http://www.justice.gov/usao-
ndga.

Updated December 10, 2025

Topics
CORONAVIRUS

FINANCIAL FRAUD
Component
USAO - Georgia, Northern


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