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Former Calhoun magistrate Steve Johnson was sentenced to three years
probation yesterday by Judge David W. Nibert in Calhoun Circuit Court,
after pleading guilty to stealing $1000 from office funds, a plea
arrangement reached last September.
Johnson will be required to deliver 200 hours of community service a year,
in addition to attending one meeting of Alcoholics Anonymous a week.
Judge Nibert also indicated Johnson should seek counseling for a drinking
problem since "alcohol was a factor."
He was also ordered to pay $954.00 in restitution, having already re-paid
most of the money. In September the prosecutor said Johnson made
significant restitution, indicating about $3000 had been paid back.
Johnson, who was well-liked in the community, stood before Judge Nibert
and apologized for "What I brought upon myself" and for hurting his family
and the people of the community.
Special prosecutor Robert Schulenberg and Johnson's attorney David
Karickhoff agreed on the sentence, based upon a sentencing investigation
by probation officer Patsy McCartney, which said Johnson committed a
non-violent crime and did not have a prior record.
Prosecutor Schulenberg said Johnson "Held a position of public trust and
he breached that trust," but said incarceration was not in order. The
probationary conditions will allow him to be held accountable in the public
eye, said Schulenberg.
Judge Nibert told Johnson if he failed to follow the special and "usual and
customary terms of probation," the court reserved the right to incarcerate
him for 120 days.
Johnson's office was audited by the West Virginia State Auditor's Office at
the request of the West Virginia Supreme Court. Discrepancies surfaced
about October, 2001, after which Johnson resigned and moved to South
Carolina.
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