United States v. Johnson

── United States v. Johnson ── Court: Court of Appeals for the First Circuit Date: May 28, 2026 Category: General United States Court of Appeals For the First Circuit No. 24-1583 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Appellee, v. ADAM JOHNSON, Defendant, Appellant. APPEAL FROM THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF MAINE [Hon. Lance E. Walker, U.S. District Judge] Before Montecalvo, Kayatta, and Rikelman, Circuit Judges. Ronald W. Bourget for appellant. Brian S. Kleinbord, Assistant U.S. Attorney, with whom Craig M. Wolff, Acting U.S. Attorney, was on brief, for appellee. May 28, 2026  KAYATTA, Circuit Judge. A jury convicted Adam Johnson of conspiracy to distribute and to possess with intent to distribute 400 grams or more of fentanyl in violation of 21 U.S.C. §§ 846, 841(a)(1), and 841(b)(1)(A). On appeal, Johnson contends that the proceedings below were tainted by the court's failure to hold an evidentiary hearing before denying his motions to exclude his plea and cooperation agreements as well as his grand jury testimony. Johnson also challenges his sentence, asserting that the court erred in enhancing his offense level based on testimony of a deceased witness and in refusing to grant him credit for acceptance of responsibility despite his prior cooperation. Finding Johnson's arguments either unpreserved or lacking merit, we affirm the verdict and sentence. Our reasoning follows. I. This case presents an unusual procedural history spanning over half a decade, five different defense attorneys, and two district court dockets. On February 21, 2018, New Hampshire State Police stopped Johnson for a defective taillight and found fifty-three grams of heroin on his person. Johnson confessed to purchasing drugs and provided information regarding several distributors, after which he was extradited to Maine on a warrant for a failure to appear in a separate matter. Upon his return to Maine, Johnson enrolled as - 2 - a confidential source (CS) for the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA). He entered into two agreements with the DEA, beginning on May 31, 2018. 1 The DEA anticipated that, in exchange for his cooperation -- which included providing real-time information to agents and disclosing information about his suppliers -- Johnson would not be charged with possessing heroin at the time of his February arrest. But Johnson's work as a CS did not itself entitle him to immunity from any and all criminal charges. Around January 3, 2019, the government served Johnson with a target letter stating that they had received "substantial evidence relating to [his] violation of federal narcotics trafficking laws." Johnson received his first appointed counsel at that point. Although he had been terminated as a CS for the DEA, Johnson continued to cooperate with the government through proffers to government agents on March 27, 2019, and again on October 29, 2019.2 In the 1 The first agreement pertained to work as a CS from May 31, 2018, through September 1, 2018. The second agreement pertained to work as a CS from September 1, 2018, through December 1, 2018. The DEA deactivated Johnson as a CS on November 29, 2018, due to his incarceration. 2 Johnson signed a "proffer" agreement on March 27, 2019, which provided that "[i]n any prosecution brought" against him, "the Government will not offer in evidence in its case-in- chief . . . any statements made by [Johnson] at the meeting, except in a prosecut