Ex-prosecutor Dan Johnson’s partner in crime gets probation

Nicole Holland, who used office credit cards to steal public money for herself and her former boss, ex-5th Circuit Solicitor Dan Johnson, and then became a key witness against him, was sentenced to three years’ probation Wednesday.

The light sentence — which includes no prison time — came largely because Holland, 50, had confessed soon after she was indicted last September and gave federal prosecutors crucial information that would have helped convict Johnson had he gone to trial, prosecutors said.

Holland’s evidence was crucial in persuading Johnson to agree to the guilty plea he made unexpectedly last month, assistant U.S. Attorney Alyssa Richardson told U.S. Judge Cameron McGowan Currie during a 30-minute hearing Wednesday.

“Her cooperation led to a timely plea for Dan Johnson,” said Richardson, who noted there was no oversight of Johnson’s office spending. “No one was checking behind her or Mr. Johnson.”

As part of her sentence for pleading guilty to one count of wire fraud and one count of mail fraud, Holland will also have to repay the Richland County solicitor’s office the $11,164 she stole to pay for trips, hotel stays and a relative’s orthodontist bill.

Johnson will be sentenced in June. He is expected to be sentenced to prison. But the length could be shortened since he is pleading guilty and has no criminal history.

Speaking on Holland’s behalf at the hearing was state Sen. Darrell Jackson, D-Richland, the pastor of Bible Way Church on Atlas Road. He told Currie that in all his years as a pastor, he has never been in a courtroom to speak on behalf of anyone.

But Holland, a church member, is a “very special” person who works with the homeless, domestic violence victims and children, the senator said. He said she taken responsibility for her crimes.

“She didn’t just find religion — she always had it,” Jackson told Currie.

Holland, at times crying, told the judge she started working for Johnson around 2011 because Jackson — her previous employer — told her that Johnson was “in the sunrise of his career” while Jackson’s was ending.

At the time, Johnson had pledged he would be working to keep young people out of prison, and Jackson thought Holland could help with those programs.

“You got to own up to those things you do — the good and bad,” Holland said. “Personal trust is hard to regain.”

Holland had been in trouble with the law before.

In the 1990s, she was convicted on seven misdemeanor charges of writing fraudulent checks and two misdemeanor charges of forgery in Richland and Lexington counties, according to State Law Enforcement Division records. Those charges resulted in fines and suspended sentences.

Johnson put Holland in charge of office credit cards despite her record, and she and Johnson spent thousands of dollars with those cards on personal expenses.

In sentencing Holland, Judge Currie noted Holland’s prior convictions but said they happened in the 1990s and were not serious enough to warrant giving Holland a stiffer sentence.

Holland was represented by Columbia attorney Clarence Davis. Richardson was assisted by assistant U.S. Attorneys Winston Holliday and Will Lewis. The FBI investigated the case with the State Law Enforcement Division.

For months after he was indicted, Johnson insisted that he was not guilty and told people he wanted a trial. A trial was scheduled for later this month. Meanwhile, Holland pleaded guilty on Nov. 1 to single counts of wire and mail fraud and cooperated with prosecutors.

As solicitor, Johnson was the elected chief prosecutor in Richland and Kershaw counties. With a staff of some 140 employees, including some 40 lawyer-prosecutors, and an annual budget of more than $6 million, Johnson oversaw nearly all criminal prosecutions in those two counties. South Carolina has 16 elected solicitors.

After being indicted with Holland last September, Johnson was suspended from office. In June, he was trounced in the Democratic primary by current solicitor Byron Gipson.

Johnson also resigned from the S.C. Air National Guard. A November indictment in this case accused Johnson of stealing money from the Guard by charging the Guard for expenses his office had already funded.

This story was originally published March 6, 2019 at 5:26 PM.