A federal judge has handed down a lengthy prison term to a key enforcer in a Jacksonville drug ring who helped execute a brazen highway shooting following a botched narcotics deal.
U.S. District Judge Harvey Schlesinger sentenced 24-year-old Briyhon Johnson to 14 years and 3 months in federal prison this week. Johnson, identified by prosecutors as an “armed distributor,” previously pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute marijuana and aiding and abetting a drive-by shooting in furtherance of a drug crime.
According to court records, Johnson was a soldier in a sophisticated Drug Trafficking Organization (DTO) led by Nathaniel Hatcher, III. The group operated a cross-country pipeline, moving bulk marijuana from Northern California to Jacksonville via commercial airlines, the U.S. mail system, and interstate drives. Once the product arrived in Florida, the crew used short-term rental homes as distribution hubs, heavily arming themselves to guard their inventory and cash…