BILLIE DANIELLE JOHNSON

On February 7, 2018, Billie Danielle Johnson was sanctioned to 1-15 years at the Utah State Prison for three felony drug cases that occurred between 2013 and 2014.

Johnson pleaded guilty to a second-degree felony, Possession of Methamphetamine with Intent to Distribute, and two third- degree felonies for Possession of Methamphetamine.

On January 7, 2014, Billie Johnson was a passenger of a vehicle involved in a traffic stop in Spanish Fork. K9 alerted on the vehicle and during the stop, seven individually-packaged baggies of methamphetamine were found in Johnson's underwear. Since her sentencing on February 5, 2014 (when she was ordered to serve 180 days in jail), the Court gave her numerous opportunities to successfully complete treatment and probation, but she squandered these opportunities. By June 25, 2014, she violated probation by not reporting to the jail to serve her 180 days and by not reporting to Adult Probation & Parole to begin her probation. The State asked that Johnson's probation to be revoked and that she be sent to the Utah State Prison, in part due to a lengthy criminal history. Instead, the Court gave her another chance at probation, with a 30-day jail sanction.

One year later, on June 3, 2015, Johnson violated her probation a second time by not entering drug treatment. The State asked for prison a second time, but the Court gave her a third chance at probation with a 45-day jail sanction and an admonishment that her probation was then termed Zero-Tolerance, meaning that any further probation violations would lead to an immediate prison sentence. Three months later, on September 9, 2015, Johnson violated probation again in six different ways. The State asked for prison a third time, but the Court gave her a fourth chance at probation (and a second chance at Zero-Tolerance probation), with a 270-day GPS ankle monitor sanction. The Court re-emphasized the Zero-Tolerance nature of her probation.

Six weeks later, on October 21, 2015, she violated probation a fourth time by not signing up on time for the GPS ankle monitor, and when she did show up, she had a dilute urine-analysis. Later that day, another urine-analysis showed positive for methamphetamine and THC. Johnson convinced the Court to delay sanctions until January 2016, so she could prove to the Court that she could comply with probation.

In the meantime, on December 23, 2015, she was granted a temporary release from jail to attend the birth of her granddaughter. When she returned to the jail, she tested positive for methamphetamine and was caught trying to smuggle more methamphetamine into the jail. As a sanction for this behavior, the Court gave her another chance to change her life by ordering her to successfully complete "The Other Side Academy" (a.k.a. TOSA) in Salt Lake City.

In July 2017, Johnson absconded from TOSA and was caught in Payson on September 11, 2017, harboring another felon runaway from TOSA. After pleading guilty to Disorderly Conduct in connection with this incident, the Court let her out of jail to be on a GPS ankle-monitor, so she could keep her cashier job.

On January 17, 2018, Johnson admitted to the Court that she violated probation a sixth time (and third time on Zero-Tolerance probation) and asked the Court to give her Court probation only and not more jail time. AP&P asked the Court to order that she serve 180 days jail and to terminate probation unsuccessfully (with no prison time). The State asked for prison for a fourth time and the Court took the various requests under advisement until February 7, 2018, when three TOSA directors appeared to testify about Johnson's troubling stay at TOSA before absconding. As a result, the Court revoked her probation and terminated it unsuccessfully, sending Johnson to prison. Despite the State asking that Johnson be taken into custody forthwith, the Court allowed her one more week out-of-custody before ordering that Johnson report to the jail on Valentine's Day at 7:00 p.m.

Johnson did not report to the jail until just before 2:00 a.m. on February 15, 2018. While preparing to transport Johnson to prison, a Utah County Jail booking deputy operated a body scan and found methamphetamine and prescription pills inside Johnson, that she was trying to smuggle into prison. Despite this material violation of the Court's sentencing order, the Court is not considering changing her concurrent prison commitments to consecutive sentences.

Related Documents:

(NOTE: Some documents may be in the .pdf format. You must have Adobe Acrobat Reader to view pdf files. Most web browsers include the Reader plug-in. If you do not have the Reader, it is a free download from the Adobe web site.)

BillieDanielleJohnson.jpg
Billie Danielle Johnson