Client 'not surprised' to hear his lawyer was arrested, saying he gave scare tactics to demand money

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- If released from jail, the defense attorney accused of helping his client sneak drug-soaked papers into the jail will be on 24-hour house arrest.

Jason Johnson, 42, appeared frustrated during his probable cause hearing Monday night.

"I am a licensed attorney," Johnson told the magistrate. "I cannot be under 24-hour house arrest."

Johnson is charged with possession of a prohibited substance in a correctional facility, engaging in organized crime, and tampering with a witness. In total, his bond is set at $100,000. He is still behind bars.

SEE MORE: Numerous attorneys believed to be smuggling drugs into jail, Harris Co. Sheriff's Office says

Charging documents say on Aug. 5, Johnson passed drug-soaked papers to an incarcerated client during a court hearing. Based on court records, Johnson somehow found out that week that he was under investigation for it.

Records show he hired an attorney who contacted the district attorney's office that week.

A woman who only wanted to go by Lynette said Johnson represents her son on a non-violent charge out of Brazoria County.

Unbeknownst to her, the same week as the alleged drug incident, Lynette said Johnson called her son and demanded additional money outside of their arranged payment plan. She said he claimed there were emergency court hearings and he would not represent her son unless the additional money was paid.

SEE MORE: Defense attorney accused of slipping synthetic marijuana-laced paper to Harris Co. jail inmate

"It was a plea," Lynette said. "It was a frantic cry for money, like 'I must have it.'"

She said she paid him about $550 on Sunday, Aug. 11. On Thursday, Lynette said he called again.

"It was a scare tactic," Lynette said. "My son literally ran in the house, and I asked, 'What's wrong?' He said, 'This guy. He's calling me now asking me for money, and he said if I don't have the money today, I'm going to jail in a matter of hours.'"

Despite sending him $1,000 that day, Lynette said she could tell something was off with Johnson.

"We all had bad feelings about this guy," Lynette said. "We knew he was not on the up and up."

She was watching the news Monday night, learned of Johnson's arrest, and said what happened in the prior weeks made sense.

"It was so unorthodox," Lynette said. "We have never heard of an attorney acting that way, and we knew at that point that my son needed to get another attorney. Keep in mind that this was less than two weeks ago, so seeing this on the news, in all honesty, was not a surprise."

Johnson was due in court Tuesday morning, but it was rescheduled for Wednesday morning.

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