COLUMBIA, S.C. (WLTX, AP) - The former lead prosecutor in the city of Columbia will now spend a year in prison for stealing public money for rooms in Chicago and Las Vegas and a plane ticket to Panama.
Former Fifth Circuit Solicitor Dan Johnson was sentenced Tuesday afternoon in federal court. After his release, he'll be on three years of supervised release. "I'm broken, embarrassed, and extremely remorseful," Johnson said during the hearing.
Technically, he's sentenced to a year and one day in prison, which makes him eligible for early release about two months before the end of his sentence. He also must pay back $19,270.
Johnson pleaded guilty in February to wire fraud.
Prosecutors say Johnson took $44,000 of public money for vacations and romantic liaisons. They say Johnson began his scheme in 2015 when the person who scrutinized his work credit card bills for five years left.
Johnson used to lead the Fifth Circuit Solicitor's office, which prosecutes all criminal cases in Richland and Kershaw Counties. But early last year, an online blog questioned Johnson and his office's spending practices. That eventually led to both a state and federal investigation that ended in indictments against both Johnson and Nicole Holland, another employee in his office.
In pleading Tuesday, Johnson admitted to using an office Bank of America credit card in 2016 for personal expenses. Prosecutors presented as evidence a bank statement dated November 14, 2016 that showed $4,713.41 in expenses. While prosecutors say not all of that money was charged improperly, some of it was used for hotel rooms in Columbia, Chicago, and Las Vegas, as well as a Panamanian-based airline ticket.
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Assistant U.S. Attorney Winston Holliday said after the hearing that they believe the improper spending of office funds began in late 2015 and continued for years. Holliday said that's the same time an office employee, who was in charge of oversight of credit card statements, left the office.
Johnson was elected the chief prosecutor for Richland and Kershaw counties in 2010.