 On March 2, 2018, Johnson pled guilty to conspiracy to commit theft, admitting that he put a "ghost employee" on the Senate payroll for almost a year, paying her $23,000 for no work.The "ghost employee", Glynis Thornton, cooperated with authorities after getting targeted in another corruption scheme involving state-run Detroit Education Achievement Authority principals who took bribes.Thornton secretly recorded a conversation with Johnson regarding the scheme at his home in November 2015.