Former Michigan House Speaker Rick Johnson will spend the next four and a half years in federal prison, a remarkable fall from his tenure in state politics brought on by taking tens of thousands of dollars in bribes for medical marijuana licenses.
Johnson, 70, was sentenced to 55 months in prison by U.S. District Judge Jane Beckering on Thursday in Grand Rapids, after pleading guilty to accepting bribes earlier this year. The former lawmaker, who was Speaker from 2001 to 2004, will also have to pay a $50,000 fine. Johnson and three others have pleaded guilty to federal felony charges for orchestrating a bribery scheme during Johnson’s time as chair of the Michigan Medical Marihuana Licensing Board from 2017 to 2019.
After Beckering considered Johnson’s lack of criminal history, his sentencing guidelines were between 46 months and 57 months, which Beckering said seemed low, given the nature of the corruption scheme, which she called “an unfettered abuse of power.”
“You did (this) all to pad your pockets, feast on free meals and satisfy your sexual desires,” Beckering told Johnson before handing him his sentence.