HOUSTON — A Houston attorney who usually defends accused criminals was in a Harris County courtroom Wednesday morning to face three criminal charges filed against him.
Jason Terrell Johnson, 42, was arrested Monday inside a Houston courthouse on felony charges. He’s accused of smuggling synthetic marijuana to a client during a court hearing earlier this month with the help of the client's fiancé.
According to court documents, Johnson and his client used coded language in monitored jail calls to coordinate the fiancé picking up papers laced with drugs disguised as power of attorney documents.
Prosecutors said Johnson got paid an extra $2,000 to deliver the drugs.
"This attorney is making a buck at the risk of a life, an inmate dying in the Harris County Jail. Inmates are dying. That is a fact. We all know it," prosecutor Kimberly Smith said after Wednesday's hearing.
Johnson is charged with organized crime, providing a prohibited substance in a corrections facility and witness tampering.
"It was shocking. I think some things are just patently untrue. I was standing next to Jason, you all saw, he was upset about those things being said about him," defense attorney Vikram Vij said.
The client and his fiancé aren't facing charges in this case because they cooperated with the investigation.
Johnson's arrest came a year after Sheriff Ed Gonzalez established the Criminal Investigations and Security Division to help stop drugs and other contraband from entering the jail. Gonzalez made the move after multiple inmates died from fentanyl drug overdoses. The new division includes drug-sniffing dogs, heightened screenings and other measures.
After Johnson's arrest, the Texas State Bar issued the following statement:
"The State Bar cannot comment on a specific lawyer discipline matter – even to confirm whether a case has been opened -- unless it results in a public sanction or case is heard in district court."
Other cases involving drugs smuggled into jail
Johnson is the second Houston attorney charged with smuggling drugs into the jail. Last November, 77-year-old Ronald Lewis was charged with providing drugs to inmates.
Former jailer Robert Robertson, 24, was also arrested last November on organized crime charges. The sheriff said Robertson smuggled papers laced with marijuana and K-2 synthetic marijuana into the jail and sold them for up to $1,500.
Last month, a murder suspect in the Harris County Jail was charged with money laundering the profits he made from selling drugs to other inmates, according to Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg.
Joshua Sinclair Owens, 35, was jailed on a murder charge and five other felonies.
Ogg said Owens sold drug-laced papers to other inmates and then had family members transfer the money from his CashApp account to his commissary account.
"Almost $30,000 went through this inmate's account since he's been in jail," Ogg said in a news conference.