Bucks County judge dispenses justice for Cash
By Alex Lloyd Gross
Cash was a beautiful, docile dog, a family pet owned by a Levittown family. One day in April, 2016. Montel Johnson thought it would be a great idea to steal items from a pick up truck parked outside a Bristol Township Street. That decision changed Johnson’s life forever. as the trucks owner came out to confront him, Johnson pulled a pistol and held the man hostage. Then Cash came into the picture, to see what the commotion was about. Johnson fired several shots at the Cane Corso dog, killing him.
Johnson then ran away and hid from authorities for several months. An intensive manhunt was initiated to find him and within months, he was located. in court, Johnson faced Judge Diane Gibbons, who sentenced him to 20 to 40 years in State Prison. Johnson, through his attorney tried to claim he had no direction in life and was raised without guidance. The judge was not buying it. While Gibbons empathized with him and even felt sorry for his life, she never the less, realized that this person was a threat and needed to be put away.
“I’m glad the people from Bucks County will be safe from the defendant for a very long time”, said Bucks County District Attorney Christopher Rees. Inside prison, Johnson will be classified as a dangerous felon and will be moved to a maximum security prison. Once there, he can expect to be challenged and assaulted both physically and sexually, for much of his stay. Prisoners do not like animal or child abusers.
This was not Johnson’s first robbery conviction. His first offense got him, less than five years in jail. He used a pellet gun in that case. For this robbery, he graduated to a real one. His lawyer was asking for a 10 to 20 year sentence which was the minimum sentence allowed. Johnson, through his lawyer said that he would appeal his sentence.
Johnson’s older brother, Marcel is on death row for killing his girl friend who was pregnant and her four year old daughter. Montel Johnson had two co-defendants, Matthew Lily, who was sentenced for conspiracy to time served and Brittany Dorio who was given an 11 1/2 to 23 month sentence. She was from Jackson New Jersey. Johnson will get even more time in July of this year when he is back in court for a weapons trial.