DOJ Seal

Department of Justice

U.S. Attorney's Office
District of Oregon

For Immediate Release

Friday, January 16, 2015
S. Amanda Marshall
, United States Attorney
Contact: Gerri Badden

Medford Felon Sentenced to 77 Months in Prison for Possessing Firearm

MEDFORD, OR— On Tuesday, January 13, 2015, Senior U.S. District Judge Owen M. Panner sentenced Vincent Leon Johnson, 26, recently of Medford, Oregon, to 77 months in prison after he pled guilty to being a felon in possession of a firearm. Defendant will be on three years of post-prison supervision upon completing his sentence.

On February 16, 2014, Medford police were dispatched to a report of drug dealing in the Taco Bell parking lot. Police arrived and found the suspect automobile occupied by four people; three of them had arrest warrants. Johnson was the front passenger. Officers frisked Johnson and found $3,401 cash, digital scales, and a small amount of marijuana. Officers seized a backpack found at Johnson’s feet and found a loaded Glock .40-caliber pistol, 50 grams of heroin, $260 cash, and photographs of Johnson. Johnson admitted that he intended to deliver the heroin to another person and carried the loaded Glock .40 caliber handgun. He has prior felony convictions for assault with firearm on a person and two separate convictions for felon in possession of a firearm.

Johnson was recently convicted in the Jackson County Circuit Court of racketeering and two counts of conspiracy to distribute heroin for arranging drug deals while incarcerated in the Jackson County Jail. He was sentenced to 87 months in state prison. As part of his plea agreement, his federal sentence will run concurrent with his state prison sentence.

This case was investigated jointly by the Medford Police Department and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (ATF), and was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Douglas W. Fong.

###

Seattle Field Division