Man admits selling drugs at Portsmouth crab house

PORTSMOUTH

Two years ago, flag-waving property rights advocates rallied around John T. Johnson.

His lawyer portrayed him as an all-American waterman trying to keep city leaders from taking his Scott s Creek property for a community park.

But on Monday, Johnson admitted he was selling more than crabs from Johnson's Crab House in Park View.

Johnson, 49, pleaded guilty to 18 of 21 charges related to the sale of heroin and cocaine at 1128 Harrell St.

The charges grew from an undercover operation that produced video of the majority of the sales, Commonwealth's Attorney Earle C. Mobley said.

Ethel Furman, 45, who also lived at the residence within Johnson's Crab House, pleaded guilty to 17 of 20 charges.

The undercover buys occurred from March through May, Mobley said. Police executed a search warrant at the property June 23 and recovered about $500 worth of crack cocaine, he said.

Under the terms of a plea agreement, three charges against

each defendant were not prosecuted.

Furman will be sentenced Oct. 14 and Johnson on Oct. 26.

More than half a dozen residents of Park View and its civic league showed up for the plea hearing.

The city has invested millions in helping to revitalize the historic neighborhood of Victorian-style homes built in the late 19th century.

Residents had complained about codes violations at the Crab House for years when city leaders decided to take the property by eminent domain and add it to public land to be used for a creek-side park.

City Council backed off the fight, citing the rundown condition of the property had been addressed.

Now, the commonwealth's attorney's office has filed civil proceedings to take Johnson's property under state forfeiture laws, which allow assets connected to crimes such as drug distribution to be seized and used to help fund public safety efforts.

Janie Bryant, (757) 446-2453, janie.bryant@pilotonline.com