PB man gets 32 years in federal prison in officers' assault

CAPE GIRARDEAU — A Poplar Bluff man was sentenced to more than 30 years in federal prison Tuesday for assault and weapons-related offenses in connection with the shooting of a local detective who was among officers attempting to serve an arrest warrant on him.

James Odell Johnson Jr. was sentenced to 30 years on the felonies of assaulting law enforcement officers and discharging a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

U.S. District Judge Stephen R. Clark also sentenced the 29-year-old to a consecutive two-year sentence for violating his federal supervised release.

Johnson had been placed on supervised release after he was released from prison on the felony of being a convicted felon in possession of firearm, said Assistant U.S. Attorney Keith Sorrell.

According to court records, on July 19, 2018, federal law enforcement officers were seeking to arrest Johnson on a federal arrest warrant, which had been issued by the U.S. District Court, the Eastern District of Missouri, for alleged violations of the conditions of his supervised release from a previous federal conviction.

Officers learned Johnson was living at a Kinzer Street apartment in Poplar Bluff.

“The officers arrived at the door to the apartment and made contact with a resident … (She) indicated that she did not know if Johnson was in his room or not as his bedroom door was closed,” the plea agreement signed by Johnson says.

The woman, according to earlier reports, told officers she had been renting Johnson a bedroom in her apartment.

After the woman was escorted out of the building, deputy U.S. marshals and other officers entered the apartment and began shouting for Johnson to come out.

Johnson and a woman, who earlier was identified as his girlfriend, reportedly were in the bedroom.

The officers reportedly then “staged” to open the bedroom door, and one officer reached around the bathroom door and turned the doorknob to Johnson’s bedroom door, shoving it open.

“At that point, Johnson began shooting at the officers from inside the bedroom,” according to the news release. “His first struck an officer on his right forearm, causing injury to that arm.”

That officer was Poplar Bluff Police Detective Corey Mitchell.

The bullet “struck just above his wrist (and) traveled up his arm maybe six to eight inches,” police Lt. Josh Stewart said at the time of the incident. “The projectile was sitting basically just under the skin,” and it was removed in the emergency room.

Another shot fired by Johnson reportedly struck another officer in the chest, but he was wearing a bulletproof vest, which stopped the round.

Another shot reportedly fired by Johnson struck the protective shield held by a third officer.

“Officers returned fire, but did not hit anyone in the bedroom,” the plea agreement further says. “The officers withdrew to the hallway of the apartment.”

Johnson, according to earlier reports, barricaded himself inside the apartment for about 1 1/2 hours.

After ongoing negotiations, Johnson surrendered and was taken into custody.

Officers subsequently executed a search warrant on Johnson’s bedroom and seized a Taurus 9mm pistol and a Colt .380 caliber pistol.

The Taurus pistol reportedly was equipped with an extended magazine allowing it to hold more than 30 rounds of ammunition.

“Johnson later was interviewed and admitted that he had used the Taurus pistol to shoot at the officers,” the plea agreement says.

Having a previous conviction for stealing in Butler County and a federal conviction, Johnson was prohibited from possessing firearms.

After being transferred into federal custody, and while being housed in the Cape Girardeau County Jail, Johnson attempted to escape from that facility.

On July 8, Sorrell said, a federal jury had acquitted Johnson on the attempted escape charge during a one-day trial.

During Johnson’s day-long sentencing hearing Tuesday, “we presented evidence of his attempted escape,” Sorrell said. “ … The federal rules of sentencing allow us to use acquitted conduct for sentencing purposes so long as that conduct is proven by a preponderance of the evidence.”

At the conclusion of Johnson’s hearing, “Judge Clark made a factual finding that Johnson did attempt to escape from the Cape Girardeau County Jail” and that preponderance was a factor in his sentencing, Sorrell said.