A Saginaw, Michigan man has been sentenced to 30 years in prison for multiple offenses, including unlawful imprisonment, strangulation, suffocation of an intimate or dating partner, interstate domestic violence, and six counts of witness tampering. The announcement was made by U.S. Attorney Jerome F. Gorgon Jr., alongside Special Agent in Charge Cheyvoryea Gibson from the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Detroit Division.
Michael Lee Johnson, aged 45, received his sentence from United States District Judge Linda Parker in Detroit. Johnson had been convicted by a jury on November 1, 2024.
During the trial, evidence revealed that Johnson’s girlfriend ended their relationship before returning home from work. Despite being instructed by his parole agent to leave the residence, Johnson remained there. He sent a Facebook message stating “I wanna do something evil” just before the victim arrived home. Upon her arrival, Johnson attacked her by grabbing her and repeatedly throwing her into a wall. He then strangled and suffocated her until she struggled to breathe. Later assaults occurred in front of her children, and he also confined her against her will in a bedroom the night before these attacks took place on the Isabella Reservation in Mt. Pleasant, Michigan.
In efforts to hide his actions, Johnson engaged in various forms of witness tampering. The victim is identified as an Indian.
The investigation was conducted by the Saginaw Chippewa Police Department and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Assistant United States Attorney Roy Kranz and former Assistant United States Attorney Timothy Turkelson prosecuted the case.
