Homeless Services Worker Busted For Fentanyl Possession In LA: DOJ

LOS ANGELES, CA — A Culver City man who works for a nonprofit organization that distributes syringes to homeless drug users in Los Angeles and elsewhere was arrested Thursday on a federal charge of possessing fentanyl during a police stop near MacArthur Park earlier this month.

Christopher Barret Johnson, 42, is charged in Los Angeles federal court with possession with intent to distribute fentanyl.

Johnson works for People Assisting the Homeless, a nationwide nonprofit that offers services to homeless people including street outreach, interim and permanent housing, court papers show.

PATH also serves as a vendor distributing syringes, including in MacArthur Park, a sector of the city characterized by high rates of poverty with many of its residents and visitors being drug users.

Johnson is expected to make his initial appearance Friday in the downtown Los Angeles courthouse.

A message seeking comment left with PATH's executive offices was not immediately returned. It was not known if Johnson had retained legal counsel.

According to an affidavit, during the late evening of May 5, Los Angeles police officers patrolled the MacArthur Park area, which is notorious for the use and sale illegal drugs, including methamphetamine and fentanyl, in open-air markets.

About 10:20 p.m., the officers observed a white BMW lacking a front license plate abruptly conduct a U-turn in front of them. The officers then conducted a traffic stop on the BMW, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.

The vehicle's sole occupant was Johnson, who "appeared very nervous," the affidavit states. While speaking with Johnson, one of the officers allegedly observed in plain view on the BMW's center console a plastic baggie containing methamphetamine, prosecutors said.

The officer also saw Johnson carrying two knives in his waistband, documents allege, and Johnson was ordered out of the car.

Federal prosecutors contend a pat-down search resulted in a plastic baggie containing methamphetamine in Johnson's left front trouser pocket. A search of the BMW resulted in a partially opened backpack that contained more plastic baggies containing methamphetamine and fentanyl, a digital scale that had fentanyl residue on it, empty plastic baggies and cash, according to the affidavit.

Prosecutors also contend that additional plastic baggies containing fentanyl were recovered in the car, along with cash and a large amount of plastic baggies in the center console.

Subsequent laboratory analysis confirmed that the drugs seized from Johnson's BMW and person included at least 142 grams of a substance that contained fentanyl and nearly 46 grams of methamphetamine, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.

If convicted, Johnson would face between five and 40 years in federal prison, prosecutors noted.

City News Service