Mendocino County Sheriff Captain Randy Johnson

Mendocino County Sheriff Captain Randy Johnson is under investigation following a federal raid on his father’s property, where an estimated 400-500 marijuana plants were confiscated.  Johnson owns property next to his fathers.  During harvest, it must be hard to not notice the skunky aroma 500 marijuana plants exhude.

Mendocino County Sheriff Tom Allman referred the investigation to the Sonoma County Sheriff’s Office, to avoid a conflict of interest.  Allman appointed Johnson to oversee the county’s 99 marijuana plant regulation, the 9.31 ordinance in 2010.  But earlier this year, federal authorities threatened county officials with potential legal action if the program was not disbanded.

Johnson declined to comment whether the raid was politically motivated.  But sources inside Mendocino County politics say it’s possible.  Its widely known Sheriff Deputies largely disliked Sheriff  Allman’s 99 plant, 9.31 ordinance.  One county official told The Independent, it could have been a disgruntled sheriff or former employee who tipped off federal authorities about Johnson’s family pot farm.  But to what extent, if at all, Johnson was involved in the grow is under investigation and will be determined by the Sonoma County Sheriff’s Office.  Because Johnson was a former employee of the Ukiah Police Department, asking them to launch an investigation would have been a conflict of interest as well.  Despite the investigation, Johnson remains on active duty.