BENTONVILLE : Johnson declines deal, pleads guilty in credit card case
Posted on Wednesday, October 8, 2008
URL: http://www.nwanews.com/adg/News/239607/
BENTONVILLE — Jonesboro school shooter Mitchell Scott Johnson pleaded guilty to two felonies Tuesday in hopes for a lighter sentence in his latest round of trouble.
Johnson, 24, pleaded guilty to using a stolen credit card and a misdemeanor charge of marijuana possession.
Benton County Circuit Judge Tom Keith ordered a pre-sentencing report and set a hearing for Nov. 14 to decide a prison term that could last as long as 30 years.
Johnson was one of five inmates wearing prison stripes and shackles in Keith’s courtroom. He sat chatting with three other inmates during the proceedings, which concluded with a group of nine pleading guilty or no contest.
Most often Johnson spoke with fellow inmate Edi Saucedo-Camacho, who faces charges of rape. Saucedo-Camacho pleaded guilty to the charges through a court-appointed interpreter, but the plea was rejected because Saucedo-Camacho said he did not understand part of the charges.
Most of those pleading guilty had agreed to deals with the Benton County prosecutor. Johnson did not.
Deputy public defender Scott McElveen said Johnson made the decision to plead guilty rather than accept the offer made by the prosecutor. McElveen wouldn’t discuss the offer other than it was less than the maximum sentence.
McElveen said the hope is to get a more lenient sentence than what was offered.
“Obviously we hope so, or we wouldn’t have done it,” McElveen said. “It’s always a gamble to some degree.”
Pleading guilty to the charges is probably the only way that could happen, he said, because Johnson is well known.
Though Johnson’s juvenile record can’t be brought up in court, McElveen said it would have made it difficult to seat an impartial jury. He said pleading guilty gives Johnson a pre-sentencing report and an opportunity to argue for a lighter sentence.
“It’s not just 12 people trying to decide what to do to him,” McElveen said.
Johnson was 13 in 1998 when he and Andrew Golden, then 11, fatally shot 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.
The incident occurred not long after Johnson moved to Arkansas. He told Keith that he has been in the state since moving here from Rochester, Minn., when he was 11 or 12.
The shootings were discussed during Johnson’s federal sentencing hearing, where he received four years for simultaneous possession of guns and drugs. He had been arrested after a traffic stop during which an officer found marijuana and a loaded 9 mm pistol in his van.
During that sentencing hearing many details of the pending charges were discussed, such as how Johnson repeatedly unsuccessfully tried to use the card to get money from an ATM. It was also noted he was fluent in Spanish.
Johnson had been convicted of those charges and out on bond when he was arrested for using the stolen credit card. The arrest prompted U. S. District Judge Jimm L. Hendren to put Johnson back in the custody of the Benton County sheriff.
Benton County prosecutor Van Stone said his office will be seeking the maximum sentence for Johnson.
Stone said the identity fraud charge was increased to a class B felony because the card was stolen from someone who was handicapped. That enhancement creates the possibility for a term of five to 20 years. Johnson also faces three to 10 years for theft by receiving, Stone said. He is also looking at $ 10, 000 in fines. Stone said his office will look into whether it will be possible to bring up Johnson’s juvenile history, as it was the basis for a change in law. A juvenile committing the same crime now would be prosecuted as an adult. “We’ll make every argument we can that will justify a strong sentence,” Stone said.
To contact this reporter: awallworth@arkansasonline. com