Johnson, 45, was sentenced Thursday to life in prison for molesting two children in Florida, a case that prosecutors said is separate from his conviction tied to the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.
Hernando County prosecutors said Johnson was convicted last month of two counts of lewd or lascivious molestation of a child and one count of electronically transmitting material harmful to a minor, and County Circuit Judge Stephen Toner imposed the life sentence.
The molestation case traces back to allegations that were investigated after sheriff’s deputies began investigating Johnson in July 2025, prosecutors said. Prosecutors said one of the children told investigators that the abuse started around April 2024, several months before Johnson was sentenced for his Capitol riot conviction.
According to the Hernando County investigation described in the reporting, Johnson also told one of his victims that he expected to be compensated because he was a pardoned Jan. 6 defendant and said he would put the child in his will to inherit any leftover money.
The reporting also said investigators found sexually explicit messages that Johnson exchanged with one of the victims on the Discord messaging app. The Fifth Judicial Circuit State Attorney’s Office, led by Bill Gladson, said the messages showed Johnson attempting to have the victim download another application for a more private conversation and encouraging the victim to delete messages afterward.
Prosecutors said Johnson had been sentenced earlier in federal court for offenses connected to the Jan. 6 Capitol riot and was later among those granted clemency by Trump. After Trump took office last year, the president pardoned, commuted sentences or ordered dismissals for all 1,500-plus people charged in the attack, according to the reporting.
In federal court in Washington, Chief U.S. District Court Judge James Boasberg sentenced Johnson in August 2024 to one year behind bars after he pleaded guilty to four misdemeanor charges stemming from the riot, prosecutors said. The reporting said Johnson later asked to withdraw his guilty plea, saying he was pressured into it, but the judge rejected the request before sentencing.
Federal prosecutors said Johnson, of Seffner, attended Trump’s “Stop the Steal” rally near the White House, then carried a bullhorn as he marched to the Capitol and entered the building through an office window that other rioters had smashed. The reporting said prosecutors described Johnson cursing and yelling at police officers after officers used tear gas to disperse the mob.