United States v. Johnson

Johnson was convicted in Florida, for lying on a passport application, then convicted in the Virgin Islands, for wire fraud. In both instances, Johnson received a custodial sentence followed by supervised release, the conditions of which would be violated if he committed another crime. Johnson was already imprisoned on the first charge when he was indicted, convicted, and sentenced on the second; he effectively served one aggregate prison term for both convictions. After Johnson was released in 2014, the Florida Probation Office took charge of his supervision. Aside from a June 2014 phone call that he initiated, Johnson had no contact with the Virgin Islands Probation Office. In January 2015, Johnson was again indicted in Florida for lying on a passport application; he pled guilty. In April 2016, a Florida district court entered a judgment of revocation, sentencing him to time served. The Virgin Islands Probation Office took no action until March 2016, when it learned of Johnson’s new indictment. The Virgin Islands District Court began the process of revoking Johnson’s Virgin Islands supervised release. Johnson argued that the Florida judgment of revocation eliminated the Virgin Islands term of supervised release, leaving nothing to supervise or revoke and that the Virgin Islands Probation Office’s abdication of its supervisory responsibility deprived that court of jurisdiction. The Third Circuit affirmed the rejection of those arguments and imposition of an 18-month sentence. View "United States v. Johnson" on Justia Law