Ottawa man gets 12 years after seizure of almost 1 pound of cocaine

He sped from Ottawa police and was found with a switchblade, and authorities seized almost a pound of cocaine. Now, Glen Johnson is going to prison for 12 years.

Johnson, 39, of Ottawa appeared Friday in La Salle County Circuit Court and pleaded guilty to three of his eight felony charges.

He was sentenced to 12 years for unlawful possession of a weapon by a felon and unlawful possession of a controlled substance (cocaine). He also pleaded guilty to aggravated fleeing and eluding and took six more years, but that sentence will run concurrently with the 12-year hitch.

Johnson declined an opportunity Friday to address Chief Judge H. Chris Ryan Jr.

Johnson was the subject of an extended drug investigation between Dec. 4 and Jan. 3, when the Tri-County Drug Enforcement Narcotics Team conducted a series of controlled buys resulting in three now-dismissed counts of delivery.

On Jan. 8, however, Johnson compounded his legal troubles by running from an Ottawa police stop at a high rate of speed. After his apprehension, police seized the switchblade and what prosecutors termed “a large amount of cocaine.” A crime lab tech later would weigh the substance at more than 400 grams, or about nine-tenths of a pound.

Under the SAFE-T Act, drug suspects typically are released from custody while awaiting trial, but Johnson was deemed an exception and was ordered detained before he pleaded. Prosecutors had successfully argued for jailing Johnson in light of the speed of his police chase – he was clocked going over 70 mph in 20-mph zones – and the volume of cocaine.