What had once been held up as a Durham redemption story came crashing down in federal court on Monday, when a judge tore into a former violence interrupter who prosecutors say slipped back into the hard-drug trade.
Kevin Johnson, a onetime street-outreach worker with Bull City United, was sentenced after pleading guilty in a multi-count federal drug case. He had previously been praised in some circles for mentoring young people and trying to cool down neighborhood conflicts.
U.S. District Judge William Osteen Jr. did not hold back. Telling Johnson, “you not only sold your soul, you sold those kids’ souls,” the judge handed down a 17-year federal prison term, according to The News & Observer. Prosecutors described Johnson as a midlevel supplier moving cocaine and fentanyl into Durham neighborhoods…