Jacksonville Man Sentenced To More Than 14 Years In Prison For Role In Drive-By Shooting On I-95

Jacksonville, Florida – U.S. District Judge Harvey Schlesinger has sentenced Briyhon Johnson (24, Jacksonville) to 14 years and 3 months in federal prison for conspiring to distribute and possess with the intent to distribute marijuana, aiding and abetting the commission of a drive-by shooting in furtherance of a major drug offense, and aiding and abetting the discharge of a firearm during a crime of violence. Johnson entered a guilty plea in August 2025.

According to court documents, Johnson served as an armed distributor for a Jacksonville-based drug trafficking organization (DTO) operated and led by Nathaniel Hatcher, III. Hatcher’s DTO trafficked bulk marijuana from northern California to Jacksonville by smuggling the drugs on commercial airlines, shipping it through the U.S. mail system, and transporting it by vehicle across state lines. Once the marijuana arrived in Jacksonville, Johnson and other DTO members transported the marijuana to various short-term rental homes throughout Jacksonville. Johnson and other members of the DTO carried and possessed firearms at these residences to protect themselves, their drugs, and their drug proceeds during the drug sales. In addition to trafficking, transporting, smuggling, and selling marijuana, Johnson was also responsible for carrying out violence on behalf of the DTO. 

On September 18, 2023, Hatcher, James Toney, and other DTO members arranged a drug transaction with subjects they had met that evening in Jacksonville. The drug transaction failed when the other subjects never provided the promised marijuana, and instead, stole approximately $45,000 in cash from Hatcher and Toney. After the failed drug transaction, Hatcher contacted a former police officer who illegally accessed law enforcement databases to provide Hatcher with the names and home addresses of the subjects who had stolen the money. For nearly a month, Johnson and other DTO members tracked, surveilled, and cyber-stalked the other subjects and their family members. 

On October 15, 2023, Johnson and Toney traveled to the Jacksonville International Airport, broke into a rental car lot, and stole two vehicles with the intention of using one in the planned retaliation. The theft had been coordinated by Johnson and Toney through text messages. Two days later, Toney traveled to the Duval County courthouse for a scheduled court date in an unrelated pending criminal matter. Toney and other DTO members knew that one of the subjects from the September 18 drug transaction also had court that day for a separate criminal matter. After court concluded, Hatcher and other DTO members surveilled as the subject exited the Duval County courthouse, accompanied by a female subject, and enter his vehicle.

Toney traveled to meet with Johnson, who provided Toney with a firearm. Johnson, Toney, Hatcher, and Tavarius Blue were operating multiple vehicles, including a red sedan and a gray SUV, and followed the subject’s car from downtown Jacksonville to I-95. Darion Jerido was driving a separate sedan, acting as the lookout for the others and to keep pace of the subject’s sedan. Johnson was driving the red car, with Toney traveling in the passenger seat. Blue was driving the gray SUV, with Hatcher traveling in passenger seat. At approximately 11:20 a.m., during the pursuit along I-95 South, the red and the gray vehicles boxed the subject’s sedan into the left lane of traffic. Toney and Hatcher discharged dozens of rounds of 7.62 caliber ammunition at the subject’s sedan. According to witness interviews, Johnson and Toney were both wearing masks. Following the shooting, the red and gray vehicles fled the scene.

Deputies from the St. Johns County Sheriffs’ Office and emergency medical personnel quickly arrived on scene. The driver of the sedan, who was the male subject from the courthouse, sustained one gunshot wound but survived and was air-lifted to a trauma unit. The passenger, the female subject from the courthouse, did not sustain any gunshot wounds but did suffer injuries from broken glass. She was transported to a nearby hospital. The sedan sustained gunshots to the passenger side, the rear, the front and hood, the front windshield, the interior, and the engine block. Deputies recovered approximately 25 spent 7.62 caliber shell casings. According to ballistics analysis, two different firearms were used during the shooting.

In related court proceedings, Nathaniel Hatcher pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute and possess with the intent to distribute 1,000 kilograms or more of marijuana, conspiracy to commit money laundering, committing a drive-by shooting in furtherance of a major drug offense, and discharging a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence. Hatcher faces a minimum penalty of 20 years, up to life plus 45 years, in prison. Hatcher has also agreed to forfeit over $2 million, which represents illicit proceeds derived from drug trafficking. See chart below for status of remaining co-conspirators.

This was investigated by Homeland Security Investigations, the Internal Revenue Service - Criminal Investigation, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, the St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office, the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office, the Clay County Sheriff’s Office, and the Florida Highway Patrol. This case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Elisibeth Adams.

This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and gun violence, and to make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. On May 26, 2021, the Department launched a violent crime reduction strategy strengthening PSN based on these core principles: fostering trust and legitimacy in our communities, supporting community-based organizations that help prevent violence from occurring in the first place, setting focused and strategic enforcement priorities, and measuring the results.