Homeless Worker Busted for Fentanyl

Christopher Barret Johnson, a 42-year-old Culver City man who works for People Assisting the Homeless, was arrested on May 21 on a federal criminal complaint charging him with possession with intent to distribute fentanyl, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California said. Prosecutors said Los Angeles police stopped Johnson’s white BMW near MacArthur Park on May 5 and found fentanyl, methamphetamine, a digital scale with fentanyl residue, cash and empty plastic baggies in the vehicle. The Justice Department said Johnson works for PATH, a nonprofit that provides homeless services and also serves as a syringe-distribution vendor in MacArthur Park and elsewhere in Los Angeles. Johnson was expected to make his initial appearance on May 22 in U.S. District Court in downtown Los Angeles. ### Who is the man charged in the case? Christopher Barret Johnson was identified by federal prosecutors as a PATH employee based in Culver City. The Justice Department described PATH as a nonprofit that offers street outreach, interim housing and permanent housing for homeless people, and said the organization also distributes syringes in MacArthur Park. (justice.gov) The charge filed against Johnson is possession with intent to distribute fentanyl. Federal prosecutors said the complaint stems from evidence recovered during the May 5 traffic stop and from later laboratory testing of the seized drugs. ### What did police say they found during the traffic stop? Los Angeles police officers stopped Johnson’s BMW at about 10:20 p.m. on May 5 after seeing the car, which lacked a front license plate, make an abrupt U-turn near MacArthur Park, according to an affidavit summarized by the Justice Department. (justice.gov) Prosecutors said an officer then saw a plastic baggie containing methamphetamine in plain view on the center console. Officers found two knives in Johnson’s waistband and another baggie containing methamphetamine in his left front trouser pocket, according to the affidavit. A search of the BMW then turned up more baggies containing methamphetamine and fentanyl, a partially opened backpack, cash, empty plastic baggies and a dish soap container holding additional baggies of fentanyl, prosecutors said. (justice.gov) ### How much fentanyl and methamphetamine do prosecutors say were seized? Laboratory analysis confirmed that the drugs seized from Johnson’s person and vehicle included at least 142 grams of a substance containing fentanyl and nearly 46 grams of methamphetamine, the Justice Department said. Prosecutors also said officers recovered a digital scale that had fentanyl residue on it. (justice.gov) The federal complaint accuses Johnson of possessing the fentanyl with intent to distribute it. The Justice Department release did not list any co-defendants in Johnson’s case. ### Why does MacArthur Park keep appearing in federal drug cases? MacArthur Park was the site of a separate federal drug-market takedown announced on May 6, when prosecutors said 18 defendants had been arrested in an operation targeting what they described as an open-air drug market in the area. (justice.gov) The U.S. Attorney’s Office said at the time that law enforcement believed two of those defendants were major sources of fentanyl and methamphetamine in the neighborhood. The Johnson complaint says officers were patrolling MacArthur Park because the area is known for open-air sales of methamphetamine and fentanyl. Federal prosecutors tied Johnson’s arrest to that same location, but the public charging documents cited in the release do not say he was charged in the broader May 6 takedown. (justice.gov) ### What has PATH said publicly? The Justice Department release names PATH as Johnson’s employer and says the nonprofit distributes syringes in MacArthur Park. Search results from later coverage indicate PATH disputed the government’s description that it serves as a syringe-distribution vendor there, but that statement was not available in full from a primary source in the materials reviewed here. (justice.gov) Because the publicly available primary documents reviewed for this story are the Justice Department and DEA releases, the verified record at this stage is the federal complaint and the prosecutors’ account of Johnson’s employment and arrest. ### What happens next in the federal case? May 22 was the date set for Johnson’s initial appearance in federal court in downtown Los Angeles, according to the U.S. (justice.gov) Attorney’s Office. The criminal complaint charges possession with intent to distribute fentanyl, and any next step in the case would appear on the docket of the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California.