Lynn man’s bail set at $25G for repeat offense dealing heroin near Lynn Commons

SALEM – Bail for a Lynn laborer who just got out of jail after serving a sentence on drug charges and got caught again dealing heroin was set at $25,000 cash bail, after he pleaded innocent in Salem Superior Court Tuesday.Michael Johnson, Jr., 40, of 69 North Common St., also of 422 Bowdoin St., Dorchester, pleaded not guilty to two counts of distribution of heroin, subsequent offenses.He remains held in custody in lieu of the high bail at the Middleton Jail following his arraignment.Judge Howard J. Whitehead set the bail amount requested by Assistant District Attorney Kristen R. Buxton.In her pitch for the $25,000 cash bail, Buxton told Whitehead that the charges stem from two drug deals with an undercover trooper in Lynn in December.About 3 p.m., on Dec. 11, Johnson allegedly sold four bags of heroin for $100 in a hand-to-hand drug deal with an undercover state trooper near the Lynn Commons.The next day he sold another two twists of heroin for $60 on North Common Street to the undercover trooper.Arrangements were negotiated for a third drug deal the following day, Dec. 18, but police arrested him in the vicinity of Huss Court prior to the deal being consummated.Buxton pointed out to Whitehead that Johnson just completed a 2-to-3-year stint from a 2004 drug case in which he was caught with four twists of heroin and two bags of marijuana outside the Lynn Shelter on Willow Street.She also noted the 5-year mandatory punishment Johnson is facing on each of the new charges and that he has served time involving a third set of indictments involving a Middlesex case.Defense lawyer James Frederick argued for a much lesser bail, suggesting $1,000 cash. He said Johnson is a laborer, has two children, and was living with his sister in Lynn at the time of his arrest.He told Whitehead that the $1,000 is a huge amount of money for him to raise, given his financial circumstances.But Whitehead was not persuaded as he pointed out the serious consequences Johnson is facing as well as the strength of the commonwealth’s case.Johnson is due back in court on Feb. 27 for preliminary trial motions.