MEMPHIS, Tenn. — A 59-year-old man convicted earlier this year as a major heroin supplier for a Memphis street gang was sentenced on Friday to 18 years in prison.
The Shelby County district attorney's office said a jury in February convicted Derrick Johnson on two felony counts of conspiracy to possess with intent to sell heroin, a controlled substance, over 150 grams.
Johnson was arrested after an undercover investigation by the Memphis Police Department's Organized Crime Unit. According to evidence in the trial, Johnson was one of several major suppliers of heroin for the Dixie Homes Murda Squad in 2017.
The investigation outlined the narcotics supply chain that included gang members using multiple cellphones in arranging to drop off large amounts of money at Johnson's home on Goodland Avenue in exchange for heroin that was sometimes mixed with fentanyl.
Investigators said Johnson sold up to 500 grams – more than a pound – of heroin to the street-level dealers in the gang.
Another dealer and some two dozen gang members have been convicted or pled guilty in the case.
