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Ocala
Friday, March 29, 2024

Marion felon sentenced to more than 16 years for drug conspiracy, firearm possession

A 42-year-old convicted felon from Marion County will spend the next 16 years of her life behind bars for conspiring to distribute narcotics and possessing a firearm as an armed career criminal.

On Thursday, U.S. District Judge John Antoon II sentenced Nishera Remon Johnson to spend 16 years and 8 months in federal prison for possessing firearms at her residence and conspiring to distribute drugs, including methamphetamine and cocaine.

Nishera Remon Johnson
Nishera Remon Johnson

Johnson had been indicted on September 2, 2020, and she was found guilty by a federal jury on June 29, 2022.

According to testimony and evidence presented at trial, law enforcement officers conducted a search of a vehicle belonging to Johnson on November 26, 2019, and they found nearly two pounds of methamphetamine. In addition, a co-conspirator’s cellphone was searched, and investigators discovered evidence of a marijuana growing operation at Johnson’s residence.

A search warrant was executed at Johnson’s home in December of 2020, and officers located numerous firearms and ammunition along with nearly half a kilogram of powder cocaine. A marijuana growing operation was also discovered in a shed behind the residence. According to court records, Johnson had been living at the home with her co-conspirator and a minor child.

Since Johnson is a convicted felon, she is prohibited from possessing firearms and ammunition under federal law. Furthermore, her extensive criminal record – including multiple convictions for the sale and distribution of cocaine – qualified her for a sentencing enhancement as an armed career criminal on the firearm offense.

This case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Ocala Police Department, and the Marion County Sheriff’s Office. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney William S. Hamilton.

This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods, a program that brings together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve in an effort to reduce violent crime and gun violence, and to make neighborhoods safer for everyone.