DENVER - Colorado Attorney General John Suthers announced today that Alan Johnson of Loveland, Colorado was found guilty of running a drug trafficking criminal enterprise that distributed cocaine and methamphetamine throughout northern Colorado and as far away as Montana. Johnson was convicted in Larimer District Court of two felony violations of the Colorado Organized Crime Control Act and 18 felony violations of the Colorado Controlled Substances Act.
In 2010, the Northern Colorado Drug Task Force began an investigation into the drug trafficking activities of Johnson. Johnson had previously been investigated by the Task Force in 2006 for distribution of methamphetamine. That investigation led to his conviction in Larimer District Court for possession of a Schedule II Controlled Substance, and Johnson was sentenced to a term of four years in the Colorado Department of Corrections.
Soon after Johnson completed his prison term, he returned to Larimer County and resumed trafficking controlled substances. Beginning in the spring of 2011, he sold cocaine on multiple occasions to a law enforcement undercover operative. In August 2011, detectives from the Northern Colorado Drug Task Force discovered that Johnson was trafficking both cocaine and methamphetamine on an almost daily basis.
In the fall of 2011, after a lengthy investigation known as Operation Whiteout, detectives from the Task Force, with the cooperation and assistance of the Denver Drug Enforcement (DEA) Strike Force, arrested 14 individuals on felony violations of the Colorado Organized Crime Control Act, including Johnson. In addition, law enforcement officers arrested 20 additional individuals on felony violations of the Colorado Controlled Substances Act.
Sentencing could range from eight to 24 years in prison or a $1,000,000 fine for each felony count for which Johnson was convicted. The Attorney General’s Special Prosecutions Unit prosecuted the case in conjunction with the Larimer County District Attorney’s Office.
