Press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Northern District of Florida

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Lagarius Joseph Johnson, 20, of Gainesville, was found guilty by a federal jury of possession of a machine gun in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime. The guilty verdict was announced by Michelle Spaven, Acting United States Attorney for the Northern District of Florida.

Evidence at trial demonstrated that officers from the Alachua County Sheriff’s Office and Gainesville Police Department were conducting surveillance of the Majestic Oaks apartments due to reports that Johnson and others were in possession of firearms, including a machine gun. Johnson was prohibited under state law from possessing a firearm due to prior criminal history. Officers identified Johnson and tried to approach him, but Johnson spun around and pointed with his hand inside his jacket pocket, making officers believe he was armed with a pistol. As officers identified themselves as police, Johnson ran. Officers were able to apprehend Johnson with a police canine. As Johnson fled, he threw a cell phone, backpack, and pistol. Officers discovered a distribution-quantity of marijuana, empty baggies, and a digital scale in Johnson’s backpack. Examination of the Glock pistol discarded by Johnson revealed a machine gun conversion device, rendering the pistol fully automatic. Officers obtained search warrants and reviewed material from Johnson’s cell phone, as well as his social media accounts, and found dozens of pictures of Johnson posing with guns, large amounts of cash, and advertising marijuana for sale, including on the day of his arrest.

Johnson was convicted during a previous trial on April 16, 2025, in United States District Court for the charges of possession of marijuana with the intent to distribute, possession of a firearm by an unlawful user of controlled substances, and possession of a machine gun.

Sentencing for each of the firearm and drug trafficking charges is scheduled for August 12, 2025, at 10:00 am. at the United States Courthouse in Gainesville before United States District Court Judge Allen C. Winsor.

Johnson also faces unrelated charges of attempted first-degree murder involving a machine gun in the Eighth Judicial Circuit Court in and for Alachua County, where he has entered a plea of not guilty and is presumed innocent. (Click here for Alachua Chronicle’s article on that incident.)

This conviction was the result of a joint investigation by the Alachua County Sheriff’s Office, the Gainesville Police Department, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. Assistant United States Attorneys James A. McCain and Eric Welch prosecuted the case.

This case is part of Operation Take Back America ( a nationwide initiative that marshals the full resources of the Department of Justice to repel the invasion of illegal immigration, achieve the total elimination of cartels and transnational criminal organizations (TCOs), and protect our communities from the perpetrators of violent crime. Operation Take Back America streamlines efforts and resources from the Department’s Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETFs) and Project Safe Neighborhood (PSN).