KINGWOOD — A Marine’s service earned him a break in Preston Circuit Court Thursday, but it came with a warning not to throw away this chance.
Circuit Judge Steve Shaffer sentenced Clay Conor Johnson, 32, on six misdemeanor charges.
Johnson pleaded guilty to the charges earlier, after prosecutors agreed to dismiss an indictment charging him with fleeing while DUI, fleeing with reckless indifference and two counts of destruction of property; and to another DUI charge in magistrate court.
The indictment sprang from a June 2018 incident when Johnson fled police in Kingwood, hitting two cruisers in the process. In the magistrate court case, in August 2019, his wife called police and said he had taken an entire bottle of medicine and was trying to leave the house.
Shaffer sentenced Johnson to jail time but said it can be served on home confinement, with electronic monitoring and supervision by the probation office. The sentences were:
– up to six months in jail on a charge of aggravated DUI and a $200 fine and court costs.
– 90 days in the regional jail for reckless driving, to run concurrent to the aggravated DUI sentence.
– one year in the regional jail for obstructing an officer, running consecutive with the six-month DUI sentence.
– one year in jail for each of the destruction of property charges, the first to be served consecutive to the obstruction sentence, the other to be consecutive to the first destruction of property charge.
– six months in jail, consecutive to the second destruction of property charge, and a $100 fine on the DUI charge.
“You’re looking at some significant incarceration time if you stop your treatment or if you fail,” Shaffer warned. “I believe as long as you do not drink, as long as you stay on your medications, you are a good person.”
Shaffer said he appreciates the time Johnson spent defending the nation from 2007-12, including three overseas deployments, but it’s the judge’s job to protect the public.
During the hearing Thursday, Johnson’s pregnant wife, Brittany Warnick Johnson; his mother, Ellesa High; Rick Marrara; a fellow Marine, Sgt. S. Wilfong; and Johnson said he served honorably and suffers from post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
Several said that remarks made by the mother of Johnson’s daughter at an earlier hearing, alleging physical and mental abuse, stalking, misuse of steroids, drug and alcohol abuse were untrue. Some said they had their origins in a family court custody dispute.
Lance Cpl. Johnson went on more than 104 combat patrols, he said, and was the “designated marksman” for his unit. He was awarded the Navy Marine Corps Achievement for Valor.
After his discharge, Johnson said, he worked at the U.S. Penitentiary in Hazelton and fought his PTSD. Witnesses said when he maintained treatment, his condition improved.
The road to recovery isn’t all “sunshine and rainbows,” Johnson said, but he intends to continue.
The judge also chastised Mrs. Johnson for referring to the charges as “a glorified DUI.” He recalled a friend who survived Vietnam to be killed by a drunk driver, as well as responding to other DUI wrecks as a member of an ambulance crew.
Shaffer told Johnson he was proud of the progress he has made.
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