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Johnson receives 6 years in prison

February 18, 2009

Former MSU football player Craig Johnson was sentenced Tuesday to more than six years in prison for robbing two banks in December 2007 and January 2008, a federal court clerk said.

Johnson, 42, played at MSU from the 1985-87 seasons and was a member of the team that won the 1988 Rose Bowl. He was arrested Jan. 7, 2008, just a few hours after robbing a Comerica Bank in Alpine Township, near Grand Rapids.

Johnson and his co-defendant, Ricky Johnson, were arrested after being stopped by Michigan State Police troopers on Interstate 96. Officers found more than $1,500 hidden beneath a floor mat in the pair’s vehicle.

The two also were convicted in a Dec. 26, 2007 robbery of the Lansing Comerica Bank and Chase Bank branches. They are suspects — but have not been charged — in several other bank robberies throughout Michigan.

Ricky Johnson was sentenced in June to five years in prison.

Federal court clerks could not confirm the amount Craig Johnson will pay in fines and restitution until more documents become available.

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