DALLAS - Following a three-day trial before U.S. District Judge Sam A. Lindsay, today a federal jury convicted Laroy Damont Johnson, 37, of Dallas, of drug and firearm offenses, announced U.S. Attorney John Parker of the Northern District of Texas.
Specifically, Johnson was convicted of one count of possession with intent to distribute a controlled substance, namely, heroin, one count of possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime, and one count of being a felon in possession of a firearm. The drug count carries a maximum penalty of up to 20 years in federal prison and a $1,000,000 fine. The felon-in-possession count carries a maximum statutory penalty of 10 years and a $250,000 fine. The firearm-in-furtherance count carries a mandatory five-year term of imprisonment that must run consecutively to all other counts. Sentencing is set for December 4, 2017.
According to evidence presented at trial, Johnson was staying at a hotel room in Dallas that he used to sell heroin. Law enforcement searched the room and found Johnson sitting on the couch next to three cell phones and nearly $5,000 cash; distribution quantities of heroin in the fridge; a table covered in what appeared to be heroin residue, along with Xanax pills in a plastic baggie, cocaine, a digital scale, and a razor blade; and a loaded firearm wedged between the mattress and the box spring of the bed. The government presented other evidence suggesting that Johnson had been staying in the room for several days distributing drugs.
The Drug Enforcement Administration and the Irving Police Department investigated. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Andrew Wirmani and Jamie L. Hoxie prosecuted the case.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
