(The Center Square) – A man from Bend, Oregon, with a long criminal history, received over 12 years in federal prison this week for possessing methamphetamine and a firearm.
Dana Lee Johnson, 41, got 151 months in federal prison and five years’ supervised release, according to the U.S. Attorney for the District of Oregon.
On March 26, 2021, a Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office deputy responded to a police call from the Tetherow Resort in Bend. It came after a housekeeper found a bag of suspected drugs in a guest room.
The deputy found a one-gallon plastic bag containing about one-quarter pound of methamphetamine, two hypodermic needles, and a metal safe.
Hotel records said that Johnson was the last guest to stay in the room where law enforcement found the drugs.
Johnson had a suspended driver’s license and an outstanding felony warrant for failing to register as a sex offender at the time.
A deputy returned to the resort on April 1, 2021, upon learning that Johnson contacted the hotel to ask about the safe he left behind. A week later, law enforcement found and stopped Johnson, who was traveling in a rental vehicle.
In the vehicle, investigators found over $7,000 in cash, a rental agreement in Johnson’s name, and a backpack he owned.
The backpack contained half pound of methamphetamine, almost a half pound of heroin, and a loaded semi-automatic pistol.
In November 2021, a federal grand jury in Eugene issued a four-count indictment charging Johnson “with illegally possessing a firearm as a convicted felon, possessing with intent to distribute methamphetamine and heroin, and carrying a firearm during and in relation to a drug trafficking crime,” the release said.
The man pleaded guilty to illegally possessing a firearm as a convicted felon and possessing with intent to distribute methamphetamine in October 2023.