Yearslong drug investigation leads to yearslong prison term

NEW BERN — A Benson businessman is going to federal prison for almost 15 years after a multiagency, multiyear investigation into his drug ring that trafficked pounds of methamphetamine and cocaine across eastern and southeastern North Carolina.

Jimmy Waylon Johnson, 59, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Louise W. Flanagan to 179 months behind bars and fined $50,000, a news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of North Carolina says. He pleaded guilty Dec. 11, 2023, to two drug trafficking charges and one money laundering charge.

Officers of the Drug Enforcement Agency, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and Duplin County, Johnston County and New Hanover County sheriffs’ offices ran a multiyear investigation into Johnson’s drug activity, documents and other information presented in court say. Through joint undercover operations, traffic stops and search warrants, they determined that Johnson was a leader in the drug trafficking organization that distributed large amounts of methamphetamine and cocaine in at least four counties, stretching from Benson down to Wilmington, from as early as 2015 until his arrest in 2021.

Johnson at times used his gambling machine business, Benson Arcade, to facilitate drug trafficking, the release says. Along with methamphetamine, he would provide video gambling machines to subordinates who would run video gambling in bars, residences, backyards and motorcycle clubs. Local law enforcement agencies said that some of the locations also became hotbeds for methamphetamine distribution and addiction.

Executing search warrants Oct. 14, 2021, at Benson Arcade and Johnson’s residence, officers seized $8,000, a kilogram of methamphetamine, and a half-kilogram of cocaine, the release says.

As part of the investigation, five co-conspirators were previously sentenced to prison terms ranging from 2½ to 15 years.

The investigation into Johnson and the co-conspirators also resulted in the seizure of 32 firearms, a bulletproof vest and several hundred rounds of ammunition, the release says.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Tyler Lemons prosecuted the case.