Johnson gets hard labor for club burning

Nearly two and a half years after The Rendezvous, better known as The Jungle, became engulfed in flames, Eric Johnson, the man responsible for the burning, was finally rendered his sentence by District Judge Chuck West for the crimes he committed.
An Evangeline Parish Jury found Johnson, 24, guilty of aggravated arson and obstruction of justice back in March of this year.
For the crime of aggravated arson, Johnson, who is a first time felony offender with no previous juvenile or adult record, was sentenced on Thursday to nine-years of hard labor. Six of those years have been suspended, and Johnson will be given credit for the time he has already served.
Along with his time served, Johnson will be required to pay fines in the amount of $2,500.00 and be on probation for five years once he is released from jail.
Johnson was also sentenced to nine years of hard labor, with six of those years being suspended, for the crime of obstruction of justice. For this crime, Johnson was also given five-years probation and a mandatory 200 hours of community service to be completed. He will receive credit for time served.
Johnson will serve out the two sentences concurrently, or at the same time, which leaves him with a total of three years to be served of hard labor and five years of probation. Along with this, Johnson will have to pay fines and restitution and will be required to complete 200 hours of community service.
Johnson will serve 85-percent of those three years of hard labor, and then will be placed on parole for the remaining 15-percent of the sentence. If he completes parole successfully, Johnson will then begin his five-years on probation.
If Johnson does not complete parole successfully, he will be forced to return to jail to serve out the remaining 15-percent of his sentence before beginning his five-years of probation.
Also in connection with this crime is John Deville, who was the owner of the establishment that Johnson burned to the ground.
Deville pled guilty on December 7, 2015 to the crime of simple arson. Deville’s sentencing has been set for February 1, 2016.