A Long Beach man convicted in the fentanyl overdose deaths of an engaged couple cut off his court-ordered ankle monitor, fled California, and spent months hiding out in Indiana before FBI agents tracked him down. Stephen Johnson, 43, was arrested by federal agents after evading capture for weeks with help from an associate who let him stay at a local home in southwestern Indiana.
Johnson, also known by the alias “Stephen Jo,” was convicted on January 30, 2026, following a four-day federal trial in Los Angeles. A jury found him guilty on two counts of distribution of fentanyl resulting in death and two counts of distribution of cocaine, according to the Long Beach Post. The case centered on an engaged couple who paid Johnson $240 for cocaine in May 2023, then died after consuming fentanyl-laced narcotics they picked up from his home.
A Deadly Transaction Traced Back to a Concert Night
Evidence presented at trial laid out a precise timeline: the couple paid Johnson for the drugs on May 24, 2023, attended a concert in West Hollywood, and then collected the fentanyl-contaminated narcotics from Johnson’s home around 3 a.m. on May 25, according to the same Long Beach Post report. They later died of fatal overdoses at their residence in Brea, California.
Johnson had been scheduled for sentencing on April 20, 2026, before U.S. District Judge Stephen V. Wilson in Downtown Los Angeles. Under 21 U.S.C. § 841(b)(1)(C), a federal conviction for distributing fentanyl resulting in death carries a mandatory minimum of 20 years in prison and a maximum of life without parole, per the Drug Enforcement Administration. That exposure loomed over Johnson in the months before his sentencing date arrived.
Cutting the Monitor and Running East
Rather than face that sentence, Johnson cut off his ankle monitor and fled California in June 2026 while on pre-sentencing release, according to an FBI statement. He eventually made his way to southwestern Indiana, where, per FBI Indianapolis Assistant Special Agent in Charge Matt Chicantek, an associate let him stay at a local home, allowing Johnson to maintain cover as agents searched for him…