Lawyer Jason Johnson, accused of slipping fake paper to inmate, allegedly demanded more money from his client

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) — If released from prison, the defense lawyer accused of helping his client smuggle drug-laced papers into the prison will be placed under 24-hour house arrest.

Jason Johnson, 42, appeared frustrated during his probable cause hearing Monday night.

“I’m a licensed attorney,” Johnson told the magistrate. “I can’t be under house arrest 24 hours a day.”

Johnson is charged with possession of a prohibited substance in a correctional facility, participating in organized crime and tampering with a witness. His bail is set at $100,000. He remains behind bars.

SEE MORE: Multiple Lawyers Involved in Prison Drug Trafficking, Harris County Sheriff’s Office Says

The charging documents state that on Aug. 5, Johnson handed over drug-laced documents to an incarcerated client during a court hearing. Johnson somehow found out that week that he was being investigated for the charge, according to court documents.

Documents show he hired an attorney who contacted the district attorney’s office that week.

A woman who wanted to be known only as Lynette said Johnson was representing her son in a nonviolent case in Brazoria County.

Unbeknownst to her, the same week the alleged drug incident took place, Lynette said Johnson called her son and demanded additional money outside of the agreed-upon payment plan. She said he claimed there were emergency court hearings and he would not represent her son unless the additional money was paid.

SEE MORE: Defense attorney accused of slipping paper containing synthetic marijuana to Harris County Jail inmate

“It was a call,” Lynette said. “It was a frantic cry for money, like I wanted to have it.”

She said she paid him about $550 on Sunday, Aug. 11. On Thursday, Lynette said he called back.

“It was a scare tactic,” Lynette said. “My son literally ran into the house and I asked, ‘What’s wrong?’ He said, ‘This guy is calling me now asking for money, and he said if I didn’t get the money today, I’d be going to jail in a few hours.’”

Although she sent him $1,000 that day, Lynette said she could sense something was wrong with Johnson.

“We all had bad feelings about this guy,” Lynette said. “We knew he wasn’t honest.”

She was watching the news Monday night, learned of Johnson’s arrest and said what had happened in the previous weeks made sense.

“It was so unorthodox,” Lynette said. “We had never heard of a lawyer acting this way, and we knew at that point that my son would have to find another lawyer. Keep in mind, this happened less than two weeks ago, so seeing this on the news, in all honesty, was not a surprise.”

Johnson was scheduled to appear in court Tuesday morning, but his appearance was postponed until Wednesday morning.

To learn more about this story, follow Mycah Hatfield on Facebook, X and Instagram.