Kimberly Shannon Johnson

Leonardtown, MD — She was addicted to heroin, went on methadone treatment and kicked it, and was drug free for a while. Then cocaine became her drug of choice; she broke into her cousin’s home and stole from him to feed her habit. That sad tale was told Jan. 11 in St. Mary’s County Circuit Court about Kimberly Johnson, 39, of Mechanicsville.

Johnson pled guilty to the charge last month and St. Mary’s County Circuit Court Judge Karen Abrams sentenced her to three years in jail, suspended to 18 months in the St. Mary’s County Detention Center.

Johnson was represented at the Jan. 11 hearing by public defender Matthew Connell, who laid the blame for his client’s renewed troubles on her return to St. Mary’s County and the bad element which had previously gotten her in trouble.

Connell said his client had been drug free while pregnant but relapsed after that. That child is now a one-year-old and she also has a four-year-old child,

“Miss Johnson needs a lot of help,” Connell said, suggesting the possibility of Adult Recovery Court for her. He added, “She wants to be sober. She wants to get off drugs.”

Johnson told the judge, “I need help. I want help,” adding, “I don’t know why I did that. I can’t control it.”

The judge responded, “You do need help. A big portion of that help has to come from you.”

Connell had suggested a sentence below the state guidelines so Johnson could continue to be with her children and asked for a delay in incarceration so she could arrange care of the children by the father of one of them.

But Judge Abrams wasn’t sympathetic. Noting Johnson’s drug addiction, Abrams observed, “Your being a mother to you children has not been very successful.”

The judge also minimized blaming St. Mary’s County for her troubles. Noting she had lived for a while in Charles County, the judge noted there are plenty of drugs available there.

“Eighteen months is the top of the guidelines,” Judge Abrams observed. “But you do need help.” The judge authorized drug counseling while Johnson is incarcerated.

During the judge’s scolding and the subsequent sentencing, Johnson continued to shake her head. At one point the judge ordered her to stop. Johnson said she was just upset, but she continued to act angrily as she was taken into custody.

Contact Dick Myers at dick.myers@thebaynet.com