Second man in Mountlake Terrace pot shop robbery sentenced

Bradford Johnson was sentenced to 12½ years in prison, for holding up employees at gunpoint.

SEATTLE — A 22-year-old man was sentenced Friday to 12½ years in U.S. District Court for robbing a Mountlake Terrace marijuana shop at gunpoint.

In November 2017, Bradford Johnson, from Edmonds, and his accomplice Eric Woodberry entered Rainier Cannabis just before closing time carrying a stolen rifle and a handgun, their faces covered by ski masks.

They pointed their guns at the employees. “This is what we do,” they reportedly said. Security footages showed that Johnson and Woodberry were “shockingly cavalier in their handling of the loaded firearms, waving them around and handling them casually,” prosecutors wrote.

That was particularly concerning because the gun Johnson held was especially lethal, prosecutors wrote. The MGI Marck-15 semiautomatic rifle was outfitted with a short barrel and had been reported stolen from a Snohomish home.

After ordering the employees on the ground, the robbers took four large bags “so stuffed with jars of marijuana they were ripping,” as well as $1,300 in cash from a tip jar, and fled through the back of the store, according to charging papers.

Seeing the police response, Johnson and Woodberry left the bags behind and ran into the surrounding neighborhood. Officers spent two hours searching for the suspects before arresting them. Woodberry was found in a boat at a nearby residence and Johnson was arrested just a few blocks away.

In a federal trial, Johnson was found guilty of robbery, possessing a firearm in furtherance of a violent crime and possessing marijuana with intent to distribute.

“The fact that no one was injured in the event is hardly mitigating,” prosecutors wrote in a sentencing memorandum. “The defendant was prepared to use deadly force to get what he wanted.”

Prosecutors also noted Johnson’s previous criminal history, including sexually assaulting a 15-year-old girl and robbing another marijuana store in 2015, in Everett.

Defense attorney Gilbert Levy argued for a shorter sentence, citing Johnson’s difficult upbringing.

Woodberry, 23, of Brier, was sentenced in September to 11 years in prison.

Zachariah Bryan: 425-339-3431; zbryan@heraldnet.com. Twitter: @zachariahtb.