Johnson Sentenced for Drug Case

Cherokee County Sheriff’s Office

Press Release

On November 20, 2025, a jury trial concluded in the largest drug case involving methamphetamine in Cherokee County history.

In July of 2022 the Cherokee County Sheriff’s Office executed a search warrant at a residence on Daylily Dr. in Marble Nc. This search warrant yielded approx. 38 pounds of methamphetamine and a conversion laboratory used for making methamphetamine.

Lars Prentice Johnson, age 53 of the Peachtree Community, was one of several defendants that was charged with the possession and manufacturing of methamphetamine. Johnson was already on probation for trafficking methamphetamine in Georgia when he was arrested on the new charges in North Carolina.

On November 20, 2025, Johnson was found guilty of High-Level Manufacturing of Methamphetamine, Trafficking by Possessing Methamphetamine, and Trafficking by Manufacturing Methamphetamine.

Johnson was sentenced to 225 months in state prison.