Louis Carl Johanson (January 4, 1929 – March 10, 2004) was an American politician from Pennsylvania who served as a Democratic member of the

Pennsylvania State Senate The Pennsylvania State Senate is the upper house of the Pennsylvania General Assembly, the Pennsylvania state legislature. The State Senate meets in the State Capitol building in Harrisburg. Senators are elected for four-year terms, stagger ...

for the 3rd district from 1965 to 1966. He served as a member of the Philadelphia City Council from 1968 to 1981. He was convicted for bribery and conspiracy during the

Abscam Abscam, sometimes written ABSCAM, was a Federal Bureau of Investigation sting operation in the late 1970s and early 1980s that led to the convictions of seven members from both chambers of the United States Congress and others for bribery and co ...

sting operation and served three years in prison.

Early life

Johanson was born in

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

Biography

As a member of the

Philadelphia City Council The Philadelphia City Council is the legislative body of the city of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in the United States. It is composed of 17 councilmembers: ten members elected by district and seven members elected at-large from throughou ...

, he was implicated in the

sting operation In law enforcement, a sting operation is a deceptive operation designed to catch a person attempting to commit a crime. A typical sting will have an undercover law enforcement officer, detective, or co-operative member of the public play a rol ...

and was convicted for taking a bribe from FBI agents posing as representatives of an

Arab Arabs (, , ; , , ) are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in West Asia and North Africa. A significant Arab diaspora is present in various parts of the world. Arabs have been in the Fertile Crescent for thousands of years ...

sheik. He was defended by

John J. Duffy, Jr. John J. Duffy Jr. (February 3, 1933 - February 1, 2019) was an American criminal defense trial attorney. Early life Duffy was born in West Philadelphia on February 3, 1933, and proceeding to graduate from La Salle University and Villanova U ...

Johanson was convicted of bribery and conspiracy and sentenced to three years in prison and fined $20,000. Johanson later moved to a home in

Longport, New Jersey Longport is a Borough (New Jersey), borough situated on the Jersey Shore on Absecon Island, within Atlantic County, New Jersey, Atlantic County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey, on the Atlantic Ocean shoreline. As of the 2020 United States cens ...

.Infield, Tom
"He Started Fast But Became Council's 5th Conviction"
''

The Philadelphia Inquirer ''The Philadelphia Inquirer'', often referred to simply as ''The Inquirer'', is a daily newspaper headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Founded on June 1, 1829, ''The Philadelphia Inquirer'' is the third-longest continuously operating da ...

'', July 3, 1987. Accessed May 30, 2013. "Johanson resigned from Council, sold his Philadelphia home, moved to Longport, N.J., and began doing volunteer work as an orderly and clerk at Atlantic City Medical Center."

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Johanson, Louis 1929 births 2004 deaths Philadelphia City Council members Democratic Party Pennsylvania state senators Politicians convicted under the Travel Act Politicians convicted of conspiracy to defraud the United States People from Longport, New Jersey Pennsylvania politicians convicted of corruption Pennsylvania politicians convicted of crimes People convicted in the Abscam scandal 20th-century members of the Pennsylvania General Assembly