Strict sentencing sought in Johnson case
Posted on Saturday, August 30, 2008
Prosecutors want a tough punishment for Jonesboro school shooter Mitchell Scott Johnson when he’s sentenced next week for a federal gun and drug crime.
In a motion filed Friday in U. S. District Court, prosecutors said they will seek an “upward departure” from sentencing guidelines.
Johnson, 23, faces up to 10 years in prison for being convicted in January of possessing a handgun while being a regular user of marijuana. He was arrested in January 2007 in Fayetteville with a loaded pistol and marijuana in his van.
Sentencing is Thursday.
Prosecutors state in the motion that the assessment of Johnson’s actions in the school shootings was underestimated in the process of determining sentencing guidelines. They said the seriousness of the crime and the likelihood he will re-offend wasn’t given enough weight.
They also want the judge to recognize that Johnson was arrested in February in Benton County while out on bond in the federal case.
He’s charged in Benton County Circuit Court with theft, identity fraud and misdemeanor marijuana possession. Bentonville police said he used a debit card that someone left at a convenience store where he briefly worked.
Johnson was 13 in 1998 when he and Andrew Golden, then 11, killed a teacher and four pupils at Westside Middle School near Jonesboro. That August, Johnson, then 14, and Golden, then 12, were convicted of five counts of capital murder in Craighead County. Johnson was released from prison Aug. 11, 2005.
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