Bertram "Bert" Johnson (born October 20, 1973) is a Democratic former member of the

Michigan Senate The Michigan Senate is the upper house of the Michigan Legislature. Along with the Michigan House of Representatives, it composes the state legislature, which has powers, roles and duties defined by Article IV of the Michigan Constitution, ado ...

. Johnson previously represented the 2nd district, which comprises northeast

Detroit Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...

, Highland Park, Hamtramck, Harper Woods and all five

Grosse Pointe Grosse Pointe is a group of five adjacent suburbs in the Metro Detroit, Detroit metropolitan area on the shore of Lake St. Clair. From southwest to northeast, they are: *Grosse Pointe Park, Michigan, Grosse Pointe Park *Grosse Pointe, Michiga ...

Communities. From 2007 to 2010, Johnson served as a member of the

Michigan House of Representatives The Michigan House of Representatives is the lower house of the Michigan Legislature. There are 110 members, each of whom is elected from constituencies having approximately 77,000 to 91,000 residents, based on population figures from the 2020 ...

Education

Johnson attended the

University of Detroit Jesuit High School and Academy The University of Detroit Jesuit High School and Academy was founded in 1877, and is one of two Society of Jesus, Jesuit high schools in the city of Detroit, Detroit, Michigan, the other being Loyola High School (Detroit, Michigan), Loyola High Sc ...

. He studied Criminology and Security Administration at the

University of Detroit Mercy The University of Detroit Mercy is a private Catholic university in Detroit, Michigan, United States. It is sponsored by both the Society of Jesus (Jesuits) and the Sisters of Mercy. The university was founded in 1877 and is the largest Cath ...

Legal issues

Criminal

In 1993, as a teenager, Johnson plead guilty to charged of a break in and armed robbery at a country club. He was sentenced to eight months in prison and three years on probation. On March 27, 2017, Johnson's home and Senate office were searched in a raid jointly conducted by the

Federal Bureau of Investigation The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and Federal law enforcement in the United States, its principal federal law enforcement ag ...

(FBI) and the

Michigan State Police The Michigan State Police (MSP) is the State police (United States), state police agency for the U.S. state of Michigan. The MSP is a full-service law enforcement agency, with its sworn members having full police powers statewide. The department ...

. FBI agents seized a 12-gauge shotgun and a Remington 16-gauge shotgun from Banks's home, but did not say whether they were his. In April 2017, Johnson was indicted by a grand jury on federal charges of conspiracy and theft, for using federal funds to pay for a ghost employee. Due to his indictment, a recall petition was filed against Johnson by Robert Davis. On April 18, 2017, Johnson was arraigned in front of Magistrate David R. Grand in the

United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan The United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan (in case citations, E.D. Mich.) is the United States district court, federal district court with jurisdiction over the eastern half of the Lower Peninsula of the State of M ...

, pleaded not guilty and was released on a $10,000 personal recognizance bail. In February 2018, Johnson rejected an initial plea deal and requested to go to trial. On March 2, 2018, Johnson pled guilty to theft and resigned from his senate seat. Federal prosecutors sought a 12-month prison sentence, but U.S. District Judge Matthew Leitman sentenced Johnson to only 90 days in jail. Johnson was also ordered to pay $23,134 in restitution to the state.

Civil judgments

Johnson was evicted from his campaign office in 2010. The "Consensus PAC" linked to Johnson and started by a former staffer owes $11,775. The Michigan Secretary of State referred $9,775 of that amount to the state Treasury Department for collection.

Political career

From 2001 to 2006, Johnson worked as chief of staff to then-Representative Bill McConico.

2010 Senate election

Succeeding Martha G. Scott, Johnson was elected as a Michigan State Senator for District 2. After the election, Johnson was named the campaign chair of the Senate Democratic Caucus.

2012 U.S. Congress election

Johnson ran for the U.S. House in 2012, but lost the Democratic primaries to

John Conyers John James Conyers Jr. (May 16, 1929October 27, 2019) was an American politician of the Democratic Party who served as a U.S. representative from Michigan from 1965 to 2017. Conyers was the sixth-longest serving member of Congress and the lo ...

. Johnson would then go on to chair Conyer's 2014 re-election campaign.

Personal life

Johnson is single with four children.

External links

Campaign FinanceVoting Records

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Johnson, Bert 1973 births Living people 21st-century members of the Michigan Legislature Politicians from Detroit African-American state legislators in Michigan Democratic Party Michigan state senators Democratic Party members of the Michigan House of Representatives University of Detroit Jesuit High School and Academy alumni American campaign managers American political consultants 21st-century African-American politicians 20th-century African-American politicians Michigan Democrats Michigan politicians convicted of crimes Criminals from Michigan American male criminals 21st-century American criminals Political scandals in Michigan Political controversies in the United States 2017 controversies in the United States