Police said they had to force their way into a Porter County residence Thursday night to arrest Donald M. Johnson, who had an outstanding warrant for probation violation and failure to comply after skipping a $40,000 payment required as part of the restitution to his main victims in a real estate fraud case.
Johnson, 59, of Porter, was booked into Porter County Jail shortly after 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, according to jail records. He is being held without bond and has a hearing before Porter Superior Court Judge Jeffrey Clymer at 11 a.m. on Monday.
Porter Police arrested Johnson with the assistance of the Porter County Sheriff’s Department and Indiana State Police. He now faces an additional charge, a Level 6 felony count of obstruction of justice, because he “concealed his person and refused to surrender to law enforcement while knowing he was a fugitive from justice,” according to charging documents signed off by Special Deputy Prosecuting Attorney David Rooda.
At around 6:40 p.m. on Oct. 24, a Town of Porter Police officer conducting surveillance on a residence in the 300 East block of County Road 400 North located Johnson, police said.
Johnson refused to exit the home despite repeated commands to do so, police said. Police established a perimeter around the residence and attempts to communicate with Johnson by telephone were not successful.
“After being given ample time and opportunity to exit the home, a group of officers began to force entry to the front door of the residence. It was at that time that Mr. Johnson surrendered and was taken into custody without further incident,” according to the release.
Clymer signed off on the warrant late Wednesday afternoon. Johnson had a $40,000 payment due Monday, part of a court-ordered plan for him to pay $604,500 back to his victims in a case with allegations that stretch to 2007.
A recent check of Johnson’s online court docket in the fraud case reflects a $45,000 payment made Thursday. He previously was paying $500 a month but Clymer upped the amount during a court hearing earlier this month. Going forward after the payment that was due Monday, Johnson is supposed to pay $5,000 a month starting in June.
In addition to missing the restitution payment, Johnson, according to the warrant, had to find a job or pursue training to get one and keep the court updated on his job status, which he also failed to do. The warrant states that on Aug. 2, Johnson “applied for Certificate of Organization of Protective Tactics LLC which is a business in Chesterton, Indiana.”
The Indiana Secretary of State’s business search portal reflects that Johnson is a registered agent for the business, created on Aug. 2.
Johnson decided to plead guilty in October 2023, less than three weeks before his trial. Clymer reluctantly accepted the plea in January.
Under the terms of that agreement, Johnson agreed to plead guilty to one count of broker-dealer registration violation, a Class C felony. The additional 14 counts against him were dismissed as terms of the plea.
Johnson agreed to pay $604,500 in restitution to six victims of his real estate schemes, even though his guilty plea involved one victim. The amount owed to the victims ranged from $19,000 to $242,500. He also was sentenced to serve four years on probation.
The allegations against Johnson include multiple victims who, according to charging documents, lost hundreds of thousands of dollars in real estate investments gone bad when they did not get the returns they were promised and couldn’t get back the money they put into the deals.
Charges against Johnson were filed in March 2014. He was initially charged with 14 counts related to securities fraud, Class C felonies at the time. Two months later he was charged with one count of forgery, also a Class C felony, and two counts of theft, Class D felonies, in a related case.
An appellate court ruling trimmed that to 15 counts after determining that the statute of limitations had run out for one of the victim’s claims but the rest of the charges could stand.
alavalley@chicagotribune.com
