Fairfax County Police Watch: Littleton Police Officer Arrested for Drug Trafficking Crimes

U.S. Attorney’s Office July 22, 2013 • District of Colorado (303) 454-0100

DENVER—Jeffery Allan Johnston, age 46, of Parker, Colorado, has been arrested based on a criminal complaint charging him with the drug trafficking related crimes, United States Attorney John Walsh, FBI Denver Special Agent in Charge Thomas Ravenelle, and Littleton Police Chief Doug Stephens announced. Johnston was arrested without incident at his Parker home by the FBI on Friday, July 19, 2013. The criminal complaint was unsealed by the court today. Johnston appeared in U.S. District Court in Denver this afternoon, where he was advised of his rights and the charges pending against him. The government is asking the court that Johnston be held in custody without bond pending a resolution of his case. A detention hearing and a preliminary hearing is scheduled to take place on July 25, 2013, at 3:00 p.m.

The criminal complaint charges Johnston with possession of a mixture and substance containing a detectable amount of MDMA with intent to distribute; maintaining a drug-involved premises; possessing a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime; and using a telephone to facilitate a drug trafficking felony.

According to the affidavit in support of the arrest warrant, on July 15, 2013, Johnston contacted a friend via telephone. During the call, Johnston said he wanted to “catch up” with the friend. The person Johnston contacted is a known narcotics trafficker who has been invited to Johnston’s residence previously to distribute narcotics to guests at parties Johnston hosts. According to the friend, Johnston paid for 3,4-methylenedioxy methamphetamine (known as MDMA, Ecstasy, or X) for his parties.

During the phone call, Johnston asked if he could purchase between 40 and 50 Ecstasy pills from the source for between $15 to $20 each. They discussed the fact that some of the Ecstasy currently available was not well made. Johnston offered to use a test kit to confirm the quality of the Ecstasy. On July 19, 2013, the FBI conducted a controlled delivery of 37 Ecstasy pills and 6.3 grams of Ecstasy powder. Johnston paid $1,300 for the delivery. Following the exchange of Ecstasy and money, Johnston was taken into custody, and a search warrant was executed a Johnston’s residence.

Agents found the 10 grams of Ecstasy just delivered to Johnston in a kitchen drawer and a stainless steel Colt Officers Model .45 caliber pistol, which was located in a small black bag on the counter above the drawer containing the Ecstasy. The pistol was loaded with seven .45 rounds of ammunition in the magazine and one .45 round in the chamber. Investigators also found suspected cocaine, suspected steroids, hundreds of suspected prescription pills, additional firearms, and hundreds of rounds of ammunition, all in his residence. Further, agents discovered evidence of drug trafficking in a kitchen drawer. In that drawer was empty pill pouches, a drug test kit and a scale.

In the complaint, the preliminary charging document, Johnston faces one count of possession of a mixture and substance containing a detectable amount of MDMA with intent to distribute, which carries a penalty of not more than 20 years in federal prison and a fine of not more than $1,000,000; one count of maintaining a drug involved premises, which carries a penalty of not more than 20 years in federal prison and a fine of not more than $500,000; one count of possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime, which carries a penalty of not less than five years and not more than life in federal prison and a fine of up to $250,000; one count of using a telephone to facilitate a drug trafficking felony, which carries a penalty of not more than four years in federal prison and up to a $500,000 fine.

This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). Those who may have information regarding this matter should contact the FBI at 303-629-7171.

Johnston is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Guy Till and David Conner.

A criminal complaint is a probable cause charging document. Anyone accused of committing a federal felony crime has a Constitutional right to be indicted by a grand jury, thus finalizing the charges.

The charges contained in the complaint are allegations, and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

Morrogh finds cop he doesn’t love. In other news, hell freezes.

Probe of fatal police shooting goes to federal authorities

By Justin Jouvenal/Post

The Fairfax County prosecutor has turned over the investigation of a fatal police shooting of an unarmed Springfield man to federal authorities, citing complications with the five-month-old case.

Commonwealth’s Attorney Ray Morrogh said the U.S. attorney’s office for the Eastern District of Virginia has agreed to continue the probe into the death of 46-year-old John Geer, who was shot during a standoff with Fairfax County police in August. No one has been charged in the incident.

“There is a conflict of interest that has arisen in the case,” Morrogh said Thursday. “And there is a second potential conflict of interest that has arisen out of my office. . . . This is the prudent thing to do.”

Morrogh declined to describe the nature of the conflicts because the investigation is ongoing. The U.S. attorney’s office said Thursday that it could not confirm or deny any investigation or comment on pending investigations.

Police went to Geer’s Pebble Brook Court home on Aug. 29 because of a report of a domestic disturbance. Geer’s father, Don Geer, said his son was upset because his girlfriend, the mother of his two children, had decided to leave him.

John Geer had thrown his girlfriend’s belongings in the front yard. She called police and told them that Geer had a firearm. Police said they tried for about 50 minutes to persuade Geer to leave the home, but he refused.

Don Geer said he watched the climax of the encounter. He said that he could not hear what officers were saying to his son but that he saw him standing with empty hands resting on top of a screen door at the home’s entrance.

At some point, John Geer began to slowly lower his hands and an officer opened fire, hitting Geer in the chest, his father said. Geer retreated inside and closed the door. A SWAT team eventually entered the home and found Geer dead.

Don Geer said detectives later told him that his son did not have a gun on him at the time of the shooting but that there was a holstered handgun a couple of steps from the front door.

Don Geer said it appeared to him that the shooting was unjustified, but he was unsure what to make of the probe being turned over to federal authorities.

“I don’t know whether that’s good or bad — if I had a better idea of why they are doing it, I could form an opinion,” he said.

Geer and friends of his son have been critical of how long the investigation has taken, but Morrogh said police and prosecutors were working to explore all the evidence. He did not think federal prosecutors would have to start from scratch.

“No one wants these things to linger on,” Morrogh said.

Our ink will outlast his career

Under the reign of former Chief of Police Rhorer the Fairfax County Police arrested a man for not wearing clothes in his house while he made coffee, set up an eye doctor on a gambling charge and then used the SWAT team to kill him. An investigation into the charge that the Doctor’s primary clients were cops has never been investigated. The police gunned down an emotionally unstable man because cop who shot him wrongly assumed the man was trying to escape. He wasn’t. The cops also shot dead four other citizens under highly questionable circumstances. The department under Rhorer was sued multiple times by citizens. So did they fire Rhorer? Naw they promoted him. According to news reports Rhorer draws a salary of $191,168 per year as Deputy Fairfax County Executive as well as a concurrent pension from the Fairfax County police of $173000 per year.

Occupation by force

According to the most recent U.S. Census figures, nearly one in five Fairfax residents (17.5 percent) is of Asian descent while Hispanics make up nearly 16 percent of Fairfax’s overall population. Those numbers drop considerably when applied to the Fairfax County Police Department, where only 4.3 percent of officers are Asian and 4.1 percent Hispanic. White officers make up 84 percent of Fairfax County’s 1,360-member police department, significantly higher than the county’s general population (54 percent white). Almost 90% of the force lives outside the county.