NEW PARTY CHIEF CONVICTED OF COCAINE POSSESSION 20 YEARS AGO

FRANKFORT -- The Kentucky Democratic Party's new chairman, Jerry Johnson,
was fined and put on probation 20 years ago after being convicted of
cocaine possession.

Gov. Paul Patton named Johnson to the post last week. Johnson had worked in
the governor's office since 1995.

A spokesman for Patton's office said Monday that the governor was aware of
the conviction before he brought Johnson into the governor's office staff
at the outset of his administration.

"Jerry has been forthcoming about this from the beginning. We reviewed the
record of this case and discussed it with him before he was hired in 1995,"
said Denis Fleming, general counsel for Patton. "Though this was a serious
conviction, the governor believes strongly in giving a person a second
chance. Jerry had paid his debt to society, and the governor was convinced
he could make a contribution to his administration."

Johnson, 46, was convicted in March 1982 in Harlan County of cocaine
possession and was fined $5,000 and placed on probation for five years.

Johnson had long been active in Democratic politics when Patton brought him
to work in the governor's office. In his application for a state job,
Johnson checked "yes" to a question asking if he'd ever been convicted of
violating any law. He listed the conviction as "controlled substance
violation."

Fleming said a key factor in Patton's decision to hire Johnson was a letter
from the prosecutor, former Harlan County Commonwealth's Attorney Ron
Johnson, to the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms as part of
Jerry Johnson's effort to regain the right to own firearms.

"I am as strongly in favor of him (Jerry Johnson) being restored to his
rights to bear arms as I was in the prosecution of him," Ron Johnson wrote
in 1988.

Ron Johnson, who is no relation to Jerry Johnson, is now circuit judge in
Harlan County. He said Tuesday that he aggressively prosecuted Jerry
Johnson and opposed his probation.

Jerry Johnson was indicted on a charge of trafficking in cocaine after
allegedly attempting to sell to an undercover state policeman, but a jury
found him guilty of the lesser charge of possession.

Jerry Johnson said, "This is obviously something I have a great deal of
regret about. I'm very sorry it happened, but because I couldn't go back
and change it, I decided to use it to drive me to be a better person. And I
think my record of public service over the past 16 years shows I have been
able to make a contribution."

Patton is on an economic development trip to Japan this week and
unavailable for comment.

Ellen Williams, chairman of the Kentucky Republican Party, said of the past
conviction, "It's all a bit troubling to me for what it says about the
governor, not really about Jerry.

"It brings into question the types of people who are among the governor's
very closest advisers," she said. "This was 20 years ago, but it's a very
serious conviction."