EXCLUSIVE EXPOSÉ: Shasta County Sheriff Michael Johnson Secretly Double-Dipped Nearly $1 Million in Salary – Former Supervisor Patrick Jones Drops Bombshell on "Jefferson State of Mine"
- Rex Ballard
- 1 hour ago
- 5 min read
In a stunning disclosure that is already sending shockwaves through Shasta County, former Shasta County Supervisor Patrick Jones has revealed that Sheriff Michael Johnson quietly retired from CalPERS in 2022 — right in the middle of his re-election year — and began collecting a full pension while continuing to draw his entire county salary as an elected official.
The arrangement, enabled by a little-known 2017 state law change that carved out special privileges for elected officials, has allowed Johnson to pocket approximately $445,000 per year in take-home pay with no benefits deductions, according to Jones. Over two years, that’s nearly one million dollars — money Jones says was deliberately hidden from both the Board of Supervisors and the voting public. (Based on SHASTA UNFILTERED analysis of data from Transparent California, the Sheriff's salary compensation from the County is approximately $275,000, and his pension income is approximately $170,000.)
“Sheriff Johnson secretly retired from CalPERS behind closed doors with our corrupt, crooked, and rotten Matt Pontes, Leonard Modi, and Eric Magrini,” Jones stated on the April 12, 2026, episode of Jefferson State of Mine on KCNR Radio. “They found a new law that passed in 2017 that would allow you to retire from CalPERS and be rehired back as an elected official with unlimited hours. In 2022, Michael Johnson retired from CalPERS, started receiving CalPERS pay, and got full pay from the county.”
Jones, who served on the Redding City Council from 2006 to 2015 (including as mayor in 2010) and on the Shasta County Board of Supervisors from 2021 to 2025, emphasized that the move was not only highly unethical but potentially altered the outcome of the 2022 election.
“If it was known during that election cycle, do you think he would be Sheriff? He would have absolutely not been elected,” Jones said. “John Green should be your Sheriff for doing such a thing.”
The Numbers Don’t Lie — But the Public Was Kept in the Dark
Drawing from Transparent California salary data, Jones pointed out a glaring anomaly: in 2024, Sheriff Johnson’s total compensation was listed at roughly $445,000 in the “pay and benefits” column — yet zero dollars were paid into his benefits package. The same pattern appears in 2023. Only in 2021, before the alleged retirement, do the numbers reflect normal benefit contributions.
Jones confirmed he personally confronted Sheriff Johnson about the arrangement. The sheriff’s response, according to Jones: “This is not illegal, it’s just highly unethical.” Johnson added that he “didn’t think [he] had to tell the board.”
Patrick Jones called the secrecy deliberate. “He deliberately chose not to tell the board, because he’s legally obligated to tell the board,” Jones stated. “This is the unknown part, but either way, it wasn’t right. He knew it wasn’t right. He knew the public would have an interest in that.”
Pattern of Ethical Lapses and Failed Leadership
This is not the first time Jones has raised serious concerns about Sheriff Johnson’s leadership.
In 2021, Johnson was appointed Sheriff by a 4-1 vote of the Board of Supervisors — with Jones casting the lone “no” vote — just six months before an election. Jones urged Johnson at the time to let voters decide rather than accept the appointment. “Sheriffs should be elected by the public,” he said on Jefferson State of Mine.
In 2022–2023, amid a staffing crisis, Johnson closed an entire floor of the Shasta County Jail and released approximately 100 inmates into the community. Instead of coming to the Board publicly for help with recruitment or retention, Jones alleges Johnson privately demanded an $8 million raise package for deputies — not once, but twice — in closed-door meetings.
“It was so upsetting to Chair Baugh that in that last meeting, Chair Baugh said, ‘I don’t understand this. I don’t like this. I’m out. You’re going to be chair next year. Good luck,” Jones recounted. “I think some of his deputies knew about [the double-dipping], and this was a way for him to get all of them big fat raises.”
The jail floor eventually reopened with just nine reassigned deputies — proof, Jones argues, that the crisis was exaggerated for leverage.
Jones also described retaliation during his tenure as chair in 2023: the Sheriff allegedly refused to enforce Penal Code 403 against disruptive audience members, making it impossible for Jones to maintain order in board meetings.
The 2022 “Modi Recall” Chaos: SWAT, Drones, and Paid Agitators?
Jones went further, detailing what he described as an orchestrated attempt to discredit the recall effort against then-Supervisor Leonard Modi. In October 2022, Jones’ key card to the county building at 1450 Court Street was mysteriously deactivated the night before a scheduled meeting. When the public showed up anyway, a large outdoor meeting was held.
According to Jones, a SWAT team was assembled behind the building, a drone hovered overhead, plainclothes officers were stationed across the street, and two individuals (“Marv and Nathan”) attempted to incite violence among recall supporters — mostly women and children — in what appeared to be a setup to portray the crowd as dangerous.
Jones paid out of his own pocket for a large-screen TV and security to host the public meeting. “They were trying to create it,” he said. “They were trying to incite a riot.”
Sheriff Johnson later admitted the SWAT presence but claimed it was for the safety of the supervisors. Jones called that claim false: “There were no supervisors there. There was a supervisor — me — and I can guarantee you, at that time, the sheriff is not concerned about my security.”
Flock Cameras: More Surveillance from a Sheriff Already Under Fire
The revelations come as the Sheriff’s Office continues to expand its use of Flock Safety license-plate reader cameras across the county. Jones, who previously voted against red-light camera contracts in Redding, warned that more government surveillance is the last thing Shasta County needs.
“Do we need more government surveillance? No,” he stated. “I’m thinking about getting rid of my cell phone just for that reason.”
SHASTA UNFILTERED has reported on this recently, and its readers are largely in agreement with Jones, feeling that these cameras are an overreach by our civic leaders and an unfair intrusion into the privacy of Shasta citizens.
What Happens Next?
Jones is calling on the current Board of Supervisors to immediately place on the agenda and pass a county ordinance requiring any future double-dipping by elected officials to be publicly disclosed and discussed in open session.
“The public is going to be highly agitated at the double-dipping,” he predicted. “While it may be legal to do, I want to make sure that the county has an ordinance in place that the public is aware of it.”
With the June 2, 2026, primary election fast approaching, Jones urged voters to demand answers and hold every elected official accountable.
“This is the rot that was in the county government,” he concluded. “These guys were withholding all types of things. We’re just now finding out in these last two weeks that our Sheriff is massively double-dipping.”
All claims and quotes in this article are drawn directly from Patrick Jones’ disclosures on the April 12, 2026, episode of Jefferson State of Mine, hosted by Terry Rapoza, Janet Chandler, and Win Carpenter on KCNR Radio (96.5 FM / 1460 AM).
Shasta Unfiltered will continue to follow this developing story. We encourage readers to listen to the full archived episode on KCNR1460.com and to contact their supervisors to demand full transparency on this issue before the June election.
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