East Texas Dog Breeder Pleads Guilty to Wire Fraud

An East Texas dog breeder who sold sick and aggressive dogs pleaded guilty in court and is now facing up to 20 years behind bars. According to KETK, Kirstine Michelle Hicks the owner of Giant German Shepherds pleaded guilty last week to four counts of wire fraud after a viral dog shooting video online led to law enforcement looking into her breeding facility which was determined to be unlicensed.

How the Investigation Began

Hicks’ first court appearance was in December 2025 after a video had gone viral of her allegedly shooting at a dog three times and leaving it for dead, which made law enforcement investigate immediately.

READ MORE: East Texas Dog Breeder Faces Federal Charges

What Federal Investigators Found

In March 2026, Hicks was indicted on charges including acting as an unlicensed animal dealer and four counts of wire fraud. The investigation showed that Hicks has up to 131 German shepherd dogs on her property in horrible conditions toward the end of December 2025. The investigation also showed that Hicks was running her business fraudulently.

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Allegations of False AKC Registration

Hicks was advertising that she was selling healthy dogs that had certified parentage and were registered with the American Kennel Club (AKC), although that was not the case.

Information in court showed that Hicks was misrepresenting the dogs she was selling online. Instead of purebred and AKC-registered dogs, Hicks was selling mixed-breed dogs that were unhealthy with falsified documentation for inflated prices.

In the March indictment it showed that Hicks had four wire-fraud victims, one of which was a disabled veteran who received an aggressive dog with fake paperwork. The dog had undisclosed medical issues and bit the dog buyer on multiple occasions.

The indictment continued to show that Hicks violated the Animal Welfare Act by not obtaining a license from the Secretary of the Department of Agriculture before selling or transporting dogs from June 2024 to December 2025.

Hicks could now face up to 20 years in federal prison.