The adopted son of House Speaker Mike Johnson has had several run-ins with law enforcement for crimes ranging from drug possession to theft since leaving the custody of the Louisiana Republican congressman and his wife Kelly, records show, but he has turned his life around.
The Johnsons met Michael T. James, now 40, when he was a teenager when the couple did charity work for a Christian ministry in Baton Rouge, La., in 1996.
The newlyweds took the troubled 14-year-old into their home and filed court papers to become his legal guardians in 1999 after James became homeless.
However, once the Johnsons moved from Baton Rouge to Mike’s hometown of Shreveport in 2002, James stayed behind and struck out on his own, since he was legally an adult.
Since 2003, James has been arrested more than a dozen times, according to records reviewed by The Post.
Charges against him in Florida include possession of marijuana and cocaine, theft, possession of a concealed weapon, violation of a protective order and possession of drug paraphernalia.
Newly minted House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana) has a 40-year-old ‘adopted’ son with a long criminal history. Michael Brochstein/SOPA Images/Shutterstock Michael T. James, 40, pictured in Los Angeles, where he is a Certified Nursing Assistant The New York Post
On two occasions he was sentenced to prison, serving 37 days in jail for raping cocaine possession in 2003 and 30 days in 2007 for retail theft. He was also ordered by the court to take anger management classes in 2017.
James is understood to have moved several places during this time period, sometimes living with his biological mother and brother, moving to Florida and Texas.
Additional court documents seen by The Post show James was charged with theft in 2003 while living in Houston. However, the case was dismissed in 2013.
Mike Johnson, 51, told The Post in a statement on Friday that “I believe God wanted Michael to be a part of our lives. Kelly and I always saw him as one of our own.
The Johnsons with James when they adopted him as a teenagerMike Johnson Police booking photo of Michael T. James after he was arrested for possession of drug paraphernalia in Florida in 2010
“Despite any mistakes he made, we love Michael and are blessed to have him in our family.”
The Johnsons have four biological children in addition to James.
When a Post reporter went to the most recently listed address for James in Carson, Calif., this week a woman said she had not lived at the home for months, but was still involved in the lives of her four children.
“If the Johnsons hadn’t taken me in as a teenager, my life would look very different today,” James told DailyMail.com this week. “I might end up in jail or I might not make it at all.”
Sources told The Post James has long been committed to turning his life around and working as a Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA) in California.
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
