JACKSON, Miss. (AP) - A former Mississippi prosecutor accused of taking money to lower a defendant’s bond will serve five years of probation and pay a $3,000 fine.
The former Hinds County assistant district attorney was sentenced Thursday by U.S. District Judge Tom Lee on conspiracy charges.
Criminal charges say Johnson took a $300 bribe in October 2014 to recommend a bond reduction from $15,000 to $3,500. Johnson made the recommendation for someone identified only as S.B. in court papers.
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Johnson’s plea stated he accepted at least $15,000 from an unnamed co-conspirator between 2013 and 2016.
Johnson faced up to five years in prison, but prosecutors asked for a lighter sentence because Johnson cooperated in prosecuting Hinds County District Attorney Robert Shuler Smith, Johnson’s former boss. Smith was recently acquitted on hindering prosecution charges.
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