Convicted fire chief wants early release from jail

PORT CLINTON — The lawyer for former Port Clinton fire chief Kent Johnson wants a judge to grant him early release from county jail. On July 11, Johnson, 66, of the 400 block of Adams St., was sentenced by retired Lucas County Common Pleas Court Judge Robert Christiansen to serve three years of probation and approximately six months in the Ottawa County Jail. Johnson had previously pleaded no contest to five misdemeanors and one felony — including menacing, receiving stolen property and assault — on March 31 in exchange for four charges to be dismissed, including gross sexual imposition, a fourth-degree felony. The charges all relate to allegations that Johnson sexually assaulted and harassed Rebekah Huskey-Archacki, a former Port Clinton firefighter/EMT. The Register does not ordinarily identify crime victims, but Huskey-Archacki and her attorney have previously publicly identified her as the victim in this case. Johnson's attorney, Mark Smith, argued for his client's early release due to Johnson being an "elderly individual with a myriad of health issues" that have become "increasingly severe." Smith added that Johnson has had no criminal history prior to this case and is serving time on an amended misdemeanor assault charge "which contains a factual basis that is nonviolent in nature." "While (Johnson) understands the consequences of his actions that (led) to his incarceration, he would state that he has time to appreciate and reflect on his wrongdoing and wants an opportunity to prove himself to this Court and start positively contributing, not only to his family, but the general public as well," Smith wrote. Attorney slams 'meager' sentence Huskey-Archacki's attorney, Subodh Chandra, said in a letter sent to the court and the case's special prosecutor that no one reached out to his client seeking her thoughts on Johnson's early release. Chandra mainly expressed his dismay about the situation to the special prosecutor, Gwen Howe-Gebers of Henry County, due to allowing Johnson the ability to plead "no-contest" and escape full accountability for his actions. "Smith's attempt to play down Johnson's assaults is wrong, demoralizing and disgusting. It's the latest insult to Ms. Huskey-Archacki, and just goes to show that Johnson fails to grasp the seriousness of what he has perpetrated," Chandra wrote. "Going behind Ms. Huskey-Archacki's back in a secret deal is even less fair." In Smith's motion to the court, he indicated that Howe-Gebers will not file a response to his motion until half of Johnson's six-month sentence has been served, according to court records. He began serving his 180-day jail sentence on July 11, meaning he would have served half of the sentence as of this past Thursday, Oct. 9. It did not appear that any response to the motion had been filed as of Friday afternoon. Chandra is also representing Huskey-Archacki in a civil lawsuit she filed in September 2023 against Johnson and the city of Port Clinton in federal court. She is seeking both compensatory and punitive damages against the former fire chief and the city. There was a telephone conference in the case scheduled for Nov. 5.