Johnson brother sentenced 25 years to life

Robert Summa, Appeal-Democrat, Marysville, Calif.
·4 min read
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Dec. 8—Jerry Allen Johnson, one half of the infamous Johnson brothers who have committed a string of burglaries over several years, was sentenced Monday in a Yuba County courtroom to 25 years to life after his latest guilty verdict for a residential burglary in February.

Johnson was found guilty on Oct. 27 by a Yuba County jury of a burglary near a home in the 1400 block of Forty Mile Road in Wheatland. Due to California's Three-Strikes law, Johnson was facing a more serious sentence for the crime.

On Monday, Yuba County Superior Court Judge Julia Scrogin sentenced Johnson to serve 25 years to life in prison, Yuba County District Attorney Clint Curry said Wednesday.

On Feb. 14, Yuba County Sheriff's Department deputies were called at about 7:40 p.m. by residents near a home along Forty Mile Road in Wheatland. The residents said they heard glass break at the front of the property and later found Johnson, who was 59 at the time, had broken a window and was attempting to get in the home. Curry previously said residents found Johnson standing on top of an AC unit with a hatchet.

The residents detained Johnson until deputies arrived, Leslie Williams with the Yuba County Sheriff's Department previously said. Officials said at the time that Johnson was found to be in possession of a crowbar and a large screwdriver. The hatchet also was found on the ground near the broken window, Williams said.

Previously, Johnson, along with his brother Mark Johnson, pleaded no contest to 10 Sutter County burglaries in September 2015. Jerry Johnson pleaded no contest to nine counts of burglary and was sentenced to 16 years in prison. He had already been sentenced in Yuba County to serve time for 13 counts of receiving stolen property, the Appeal previously reported.

Johnson and his brother were arrested in July 2013 after detectives recovered tens of thousands of dollars worth of suspected stolen property in stash houses on Riverside Drive in Olivehurst, Hammonton-Smartsville Road in Linda, and Grove Lane in Sutter County.

According to Appeal archives, three trailers, a pickup truck and a flat-bed truck were needed to haul away the stolen property.

Victims of those burglaries had testified in a preliminary hearing about the loss of family heirlooms, guns, tools, even food from their freezers, after they said they were tricked by the brothers, who gained access to homes through the guise of a fix-it business.

On Wednesday, Curry detailed much of the history related to the Johnson brothers and their interactions with the California justice system.

"Jerry Johnson is infamous in Northern California for a string of burglaries he committed with his brother. Johnson racked up 13 strike convictions between 2015 and 2016, but served only 44% (7 years) of his 16-years sentence due to California's soft-on-crime policies. The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation paroled Johnson on July 5, 2020," Curry said on social media. "It wasn't long before Johnson went back to victimizing California citizens. Jerry Johnson was arrested for a new alleged residential burglary in Placer County on March 26, 2021, eight months after being paroled for residential burglary. Johnson was still on parole at the time of the new burglary, but California Parole lifted their hold on Johnson only four days after the fresh arrest. The Placer County District Attorney filed a new case alleging the new burglary, but in June of 2021, Jerry Johnson bailed out of the Placer County Jail. On Christmas Eve of 2021, while on parole and released on bail, Jerry Johnson allegedly committed another burglary, this time in Sutter County. Johnson was arraigned in Sutter County court on December 28, 2021, and released from jail merely on his promise to come back to court."

Curry then went on to blame California's "soft-on-crime policies" for Johnson's continued actions.

"California's failed soft-on-crime policies of the last decade have enabled criminals like Jerry Johnson to victimize our fellow citizens. Hopefully the 25-to-Life sentence will bring an end to the terror Jerry Johnson has inflicted on Northern California," Curry said. "Thank you to the jurors for serving. Thank you to Yuba County Senior Deputy District Attorney Monique McDevitt for holding the line and bringing Jerry Johnson to justice! Our community thanks you for making us safer! Monique's position is funded by Measure K. Thank you to the citizens of Yuba County for funding Public Safety."