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FORMER MAGISTRATE GIVEN PROBATION - Johnson Makes Apology For Mistakes |
| (01/14/2003) |
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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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