Bond at $50K for Johnston school board member indicted for extortion
A bond was set at $50,000 on Tuesday for former Smithfield police officer and current Johnston County Board of Education member Ronald Johnson, indicted by a grand jury for extortion and other felony charges.
Johnson was indicted Monday for one count of felony extortion, one count of felony obstruction of justice and three counts of willfully failing to discharge duties. The charges were confirmed in a release from Johnston County District Attorney Susan Doyle.
Johnson appeared in court Tuesday morning, where he entered the courtroom in foot shackles.
According to court documents, Johnson in April 2022 attempted to extort a congressional candidate, DeVan Barbour, by threatening to release a defamatory recording targeting Barbour weeks before the primary election.
The documents state Johnson, who was allegedly having an affair with a woman, met Barbour after midnight in the parking lot behind Clayton Fitness off U.S. Highway 70 with the recording and threatened to release it if Barbour did not pressure the woman to say she was not having an affair with Johnson.
The woman was not related to a congressional candidate, attorneys stated in court Tuesday.
The state acquired text messages between Johnson and Barbour, when he asked to meet behind Clayton Fitness, but the mentioned recordings were never released.
"[Johnson] found out some defamatory information about [Barbour] from the woman and he used that information when he met with the candidate he provided him with a recording to listen to in the car," described state attorney Benjamin Zellinger in court Tuesday. "In that recording he requested that the candidate have the person he was having an affair with deny he was ever having an affair ... in exchange for that he wouldn’t release this recording."
According to the state, extortion is the biggest offense the ex-officer faces, and the state said there is strong evidence against Johnson, calling his threat against Barbour blackmail. The felony carries a maximum of 59 months in prison.
Johnson is also accused of violating his duties as a school board member, allegedly unlawfully recording a closed school board meeting in May 2022 and attempting to have two Clayton High school students with special needs transferred to another school as an act of personal retaliation.
Johnson was terminated in October by the town of Smithfield. That same month, the school board voted to censure him, following allegations that he secretly recorded board members on 10 different occasions.
The school board released the following statement:
At this time, the Board has no comment or additional information regarding the criminal charges against Mr. Johnson. Instead, the Board of Education wishes to express its continued commitment to governing the schools efficiently and effectively, consistent with all laws and policies.
Johnson was a 17-year veteran of the Smithfield Police Department and has served on the Johnston County Board of Education since 2016. He has no criminal record.
Johnson is due back in court the week of June 5.
