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Washington Co. Commissioner Arrested

By Attorney General Troy King's Office

Johnny Leroy Johnston is accused of threatening a grand jury witness Washington Co. Commissioner Arrested

Published: Wed, August 20, 2008 - 2:23 pm Last Updated: Wed, August 20, 2008 - 2:31 pm

(MONTGOMERY)—Attorney General Troy King announced that Washington County Commissioner Johnny Leroy Johnston was arrested twice today. This morning, Johnston was arrested on a warrant* charging him with intimidation of a witness. Johnston, 56, of McIntosh, is being held in the Washington County Jail, where this afternoon he was served with an indictment and re-arrested on charges of violation of the ethics law and numerous other charges related to threatening and interfering with the testimony of a witness.

The first arrest was on a warrant secured by the Attorney General’s Office, charging that on August 18, 2008, Johnston threatened someone he believed would be called as a witness in a grand jury proceeding, in an attempt to corruptly influence that person’s testimony or induce the witness to be absent from an official proceeding to which he had been legally summoned, in violation of Code of Alabama Section 13A-10-123. Intimidating a witness is a class C felony, punishable by one to 10 years imprisonment and a fine of up to $15,000.

“This case involves extremely serious allegations, that an elected official not only is charged with violating the public trust and betraying his office for personal gain, but that he is accused of threatening violence against a witness and attempting to subvert the criminal justice system,” said Attorney General King.

Attorney General King’s Office presented evidence to a Washington County grand jury on August 19, resulting in a five-count indictment* returned against Johnston on August 20. Specifically, the indictment charges that Johnston:

· Violated the state ethics law by intentionally using his public office as a Washington County Commissioner for unlawful personal gain of sand, dirt, and/or gravel, in violation of Code of Alabama Section 36-25-5(a);

· Attempted to induce a witness or someone he believed would be called as a witness to a grand jury and/or trial, to testify falsely or unlawfully withhold his testimony, in violation of Code of Alabama Section 13A-10-124 ;

· Threatened a witness or someone he believed would be called as a witness to a grand jury, in an attempt to corruptly influence the testimony of that person, in violation of Code of Alabama, Section 13A-10-123;

· Threatened to commit a crime of violence against someone who provides information to law enforcement or prosecutors about the commission or possible commission of a crime, which is a terrorist threat under Code of Alabama Section 13A-10-15; and

· Willfully—by any means, directly or indirectly, conditionally or unconditionally—induced, coerced, or attempted to induce or coerce a witness who had been subpoenaed to the Washington County grand jury to give false testimony or to withhold any true testimony before the grand jury, in violation of Code of Alabama Section 12-16-217.

No further information about the investigation or about Johnston’s alleged crimes other than that stated in the warrant and indictment may be released at this time.

If convicted, Johnston faces a maximum penalty of two to 20 years imprisonment and a fine of up to $30,000 for violation of the ethics law, a class B felony; for intimidating a witness and making terrorist threats, both class C felonies, one to ten years imprisonment and fines of up to $15,000; for inducing false testimony, an unclassified felony, one to three years imprisonment and a fine of up to $5,000; and for tampering with a witness, a class B misdemeanor, up to six months imprisonment and a fine of up to $3,000. Furthermore, Section 36-9-2 of the Code of Alabama states that when an officeholder is convicted of a felony, the office is vacated from the time of conviction.