United States Drug Enforcement Administration

ST. LOUIS – U.S. District Court Judge Henry E. Autrey sentenced Farraad Johnson, 46, of St. Louis,  to a 36-month term of imprisonment on Wednesday. Johnson pleaded guilty in March to maintaining a drug-involved premises.

Johnson admitted leasing, maintaining, and controlling a residence in the 1100 block of Edlor Drive in St. Louis so that drug dealers could store their cocaine (intended for distribution), firearms, and other drug trafficking-related items inside that residence.

As part of an extensive investigation into a large-scale drug trafficking conspiracy involving Adrian Lemons and other co-defendants, investigators executed a search warrant at Johnson’s residence on July 20, 2016. Investigators seized three hydraulic presses, two digital scales, four firearms, ammunition, gun boxes, multiple cellphones, a lock box containing 900 grams of cocaine, a bag containing 20 grams of cocaine, two blenders, Quinine (sometimes used to dilute drugs intended for sale), and other drug trafficking-related paraphernalia.

Johnson is one of 34 defendants named in federal indictments first filed in 2015 involving a variety of charges, including drug trafficking and homicide-related offenses. Thirty-three of the 34 defendants charged during this investigation have been convicted. One co-defendant’s case remains pending. While that case remains pending, that co-defendant is presumed innocent and all charges that co-defendant presently faces are merely accusations and do not constitute proof of his guilt.

This case was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration, along with Homeland Security Investigations; the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department; the Kennett, Mo., Police Department; the U.S. Marshals Service; the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.