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Former Football Star Back In Bind

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By TODD LESKANIC, The Tampa Tribune

Published: February 1, 2008

Updated: 01/31/2008 09:33 pm

DADE CITY - Former Pasco High star quarterback Isaac Johnson returned to a familiar location Thursday:

A courtroom.

Johnson, 34, of Zephyrhills, pleaded guilty to possession of marijuana and was sentenced to two years' probation. According to a report, investigators found 337 grams of marijuana when they searched his house on Second Avenue in June 2006.

Reached Thursday evening, Johnson admitted he smoked marijuana.

"I use it as a medicine, I don't abuse it," Johnson said. "If I had a psychiatrist I could go talk to, they'd put me on medication but I don't have the money for that kind of stuff. You know what I'm saying?"

Johnson, who installs fences for a living, said he's having trouble paying his bills. He said he had money saved but overdue child support payments wound up costing him $4,700. He said smoking marijuana wasn't worth what it's cost him.

"I'm in square block one now," he said. "It's ... not worth it - not by a long shot."

Johnson is best known for getting out of jail hours before leading Pasco High to the 1992 state championship over Tampa Jesuit. He was arrested in July of the same year and charged with robbing a pizza delivery man.

On Dec. 17, 1992, the night before the state championship, he was arrested on a probation violation stemming from an earlier battery on a law enforcement officer conviction.

He spent the night in jail, and a judge ordered his release on his own recognizance the next morning.

He pleaded no contest to the robbery charge in 1993 and was sentenced to probation. Later that year, he violated the probation and was sentenced to seven years in prison. He was paroled in May 1998.

Johnson's run-ins with the law put an end to what could have been a promising football career. Now, he's trying to make sure his 17-year-old son Josh, a football player at Pasco High, doesn't make the same mistakes.

"I was just being stupid and running with a different crew and got involved with the wrong things," he said. "That's my biggest regret. If I could take it all back, I'd take it all back."

Reporter Todd Leskanic can be reached at (352) 521-3156 or tleskanic@tampatrib.com.

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