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Eric Johnson is accused of tricking his wife into thinking he had been kidnapped by a cartel to repay a drug debt, but he was just extorting money from her. The Indian Harbour Police Department in Florida arrested him on March 7, 2024, on charges of extortion and fraud. (Brevard County Jail)
A Florida woman thought she was paying over $70,000 in a ransom payment to a drug cartel who kidnapped her husband. Turns out, there was no kidnapping â and her husband was just allegedly extorting her so he could meet with another woman and keep up his drug habit.
Eric Johnson, 29, is in the Brevard County Jail on charges of grand theft over $70,000, fraud and extortion, among other alleged crimes.
Cops with the Indian Harbour Police Department began investigating the exorbitant scheme on Dec. 14 when Johnsonâs wife came to the police station to report him missing and to say he was âbeing held for ransom,â a 21-page probable cause arrest affidavit says. She told cops she started receiving texts from a phone number she did not recognize that said her husband would be hurt if she did not start sending money.
His wife told detectives the two met in 2020 and got married in January 2023. They had planned a large wedding for January 2024. She said Johnson had previously told her he had been involved in a drug cartel before they met and he had a $60,000 drug shipment intercepted, which he owed them money for. Johnson had gone missing on a couple of occasions two or three months prior and she paid money to her husbandâs CashApp account so he could be released and he returned home about an hour later, the affidavit said.
She first received a text message on Oct. 7 that said: âYou have 10 minutes to send 600 dollars to your husbands cash app for him messing up my businessâŚIâm sure he has said it was over many times but this is his last paymentâŚIf it isnât sent things happen.â She received similar messages in October and December. One of them said: â500 now or buenas nochas.â Another: âBetter send that 500 now or he wonât make it to the wedding.â Then: âLast one Iâm absolutely positive it isâŚ.but send me 600 now or your husbandâs throat is peeled.â
He went missing again on Dec. 12, with his apparent abductors saying they were driving him around in his car. Johnsonâs wife begged the âkidnapperâ for mercy and pleaded to talk to her husband. She texted: âCan you just tell me if heâs ok please? Heâs the only family I have.â
Johnsonâs made-up kidnappers said they were driving him around in her car.
His wife apparently sent money but Johnson never came home on Dec. 14. Over three months she sent money over 50 times until she only had â$1.71 to her name,â the affidavit said. Thatâs when she decided to go to police for help. She told cops she didnât go to authorities before because she was scared for his safety.
It didnât take detectives long to unfurl Johnsonâs alleged scheme.
Detectives determined the phone number in which the texts extorting money actually belonged to Johnson. They also viewed street cameras that showed the car he was supposed to be held captive in traveling around Brevard County with only the driver inside, the affidavit said.
On Dec. 14, the street cameras spotted Johnson driving in Melbourne and cops performed a traffic stop on the vehicle. They took him in for questioning. In an interview with detectives, he admitted the whole kidnapping was a ruse to get his wife to send him money. He said he used the money his wife gave him to buy cocaine. Officers found a small amount of cocaine and a crack pipe in the car, the affidavit said. He also was knowingly driving on a suspended license, cops said. He was arrested on drug possession charges but bonded out as cops continued to investigate his alleged kidnapping scheme.
A review of his phone showed that he was sexting with other women at the time he was supposedly missing. Between Dec. 12 and Dec. 14 he drove to be with another woman, the affidavit said. He also told cops he was never part of the cartel.
Detectives believe Johnson has defrauded his wife of over $120,000 since they met in 2020, the affidavit said.
Cops arrested Johnson on Thursday and took him to the Brevard County Jail where he remains on a $24,000 bond. His next court date is scheduled for April 16.
