A former New Jersey city councilman has been accused of stealing money from a Democratic club. Previously, the Democratic politician was charged with selling cocaine and methamphetamine to an undercover police officer.
On Thursday, the Hunterdon County Prosecutor’s Office Said Malik D. Johnston, of Flemington, New Jersey, was indicted by a grand jury on a charge of theft by unlawful taking, a third-degree crime. He was indicted on his first charge in October. If convicted of the third-degree crime, Johnston could face up to five years in prison and a fine of up to $15,000.
Mr Johnston, 47, is a former member of Flemington County Council and a former board member of the Flemington Democratic Club.
Johnston, also known as Pippin J. Falk, is accused of going to a bank in Bridgewater on June 2, 2023, and withdrawing $1,000 from a Flemington Democratic Club account.
Prosecutors said Mr. Johnston was not a member of the Flemington Democratic Club at the time of his departure.
Authorities have not said how Johnston accessed the account or whether he used the stolen money.
After being indicted, Johnston ignored pressure from the community to resign from the town council. However, he did not run for re-election in November 2023.
This is not Johnston’s first run-in with the law.
In June 2023, Johnston was indicted Sentence by Hunterdon County Grand Jury on eight drug charges. The embattled Democrat faces two counts of third-degree possession of cocaine, two counts of third-degree possession of methamphetamine, second-degree distribution of cocaine, second-degree distribution of methamphetamine, and second-degree possession of cocaine with intent to distribute. He was charged with possession of a drug. second-degree possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine;
Johnston reportedly sold cocaine and methamphetamine to an undercover police officer in Raritan Township between December 2022 and February 2023. according to to Hunterdon County Prosecutor Renee M. Robson.
Johnston’s pretrial hearing in the case is scheduled for June 3.
At a Flemington City Council meeting in March 2023, a woman said: accused Johnston offered drugs to her teenage daughter.
Her mother said the councilman approached her then-18-year-old daughter outside the Burlington Coat Factory and asked her, “Does she do crystals?”
The girl then went home and asked her mother what a “crystal” was.
The mother said she knew crystal was slang for the drug because she was addicted to opioids until she recovered four years ago.
At the City Council meeting, a second woman called on Johnston to resign, saying, “Malik, you need to resign now. This situation is not going away.”
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Flemington councilor Malik Johnston faces calls to resign.www.youtube.com
