Christopher Joseph Johnson, a member of a violent home invasion robbery crew, was sentenced today in U.S. District Court in Seattle to 25 years in prison for racketeering and conspiracy to commit RICO.
Johnson, 24, also aided and abetted the murder of Irah Marcello Sok during a Snohomish County home invasion robbery in August 2022, for which he received a concurrent 25-year sentence in Snohomish County Superior Court. First Assistant U.S. Attorney Charles Neil Floyd said the crime ring "terrorized people up and down the I-5 corridor – women, children, families – anyone they thought had valuables they could steal."
U.S. District Judge Lauren King emphasized the severity, saying, "You used violence, fear, and intimidation… The victims face unthinkable trauma due to you and your coconspirators insatiable greed." W. Mike Herrington, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Seattle field office, added that Johnson and his co-conspirators "stopped at nothing in pursuit of their ill-gotten gains, including murder, kidnapping, and other violence."
Johnson pleaded guilty in February 2026, admitting his involvement in a pattern of violent crimes committed with codefendant Kevin Thissel and others. Throughout the summer of 2022, the crew targeted families, bursting into homes at night dressed in black with guns drawn, often claiming to be police. They wore masks, used zip-ties to restrain victims, including children as young as nine, and ransacked homes for valuables.
His crimes included armed robberies in Mount Vernon, Burien, and Kent, an attempted burglary on Mercer Island where a gun was fired, and the kidnapping of victims to force ATM withdrawals. The August 19, 2022, Snohomish County robbery culminated in the murder of Irah Marcello Sok.
Prosecutors recommended the 25-year sentence, noting Johnson's willing and active participation in an enterprise that used violence and the threat of violence. Restitution for victims will be determined at a hearing on September 22, 2026. Following his prison term, Johnson will serve five years of supervised release. The FBI, Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office, Mount Vernon Police Department, Kent Police Department, and King County Sheriff’s Office investigated the case.