CHARLESTON, W.Va. - United States Attorney Booth Goodwin announced today that James Miller Johnson, III, 27, of Parkersburg, West Virginia pleaded guilty to a federal drug charge and being a felon in possession of a firearm. Johnson admitted that on Aug. 14, 2014, he sold cocaine base and heroin to a confidential informant working with law enforcement. The drug sale took place in Parkersburg. When Johnson was arrested on the drug charge on Nov. 19, 2014, he had a gun. Johnson was prohibited from possessing a firearm because of a prior felony drug conviction in 2009 from Ohio. Under federal law, a convicted felon is prohibited from possessing any firearm.
Johnson faces up to 30 years in prison and a $1,250,000 fine when sentenced on December 9, 2015.
The Parkersburg Narcotics Task Force and Vienna Police Department conducted the investigation. Assistant United States Attorney Timothy D. Boggess is in charge of the prosecution.
This case is being prosecuted as part of an ongoing effort led by the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of West Virginia to combat the illicit sale and misuse of prescription drugs and heroin. The U.S. Attorney’s Office, joined by federal, state and local law enforcement agencies, is committed to aggressively pursuing and shutting down illegal pill trafficking, eliminating open air drug markets, and curtailing the spread of opiate painkillers and heroin in communities across the Southern District.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
