Attorney Jason Johnson, who is accused of slipping a piece of paper tied with strings to a prison inmate, allegedly demanded more money from his client

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) – The defense attorney accused of helping his client smuggle drug-laced papers into prison will be placed under house arrest for 24 hours after his release from prison.

Jason Johnson, 42, appeared frustrated during his probation hearing Monday night.

“I'm a licensed attorney,” Johnson told the judge. “I can't be under house arrest for 24 hours.”

Johnson is charged with possession of a controlled substance in a correctional facility, engaging in organized crime and tampering with a witness. His bail totals $100,000. He remains behind bars.

READ MORE: Numerous lawyers are accused of smuggling drugs into prison, says Harris County Sheriff's Office

Charging documents say Johnson delivered drug-laced papers to an incarcerated client during a court hearing on Aug. 5. Court records say Johnson somehow found out this week that he was under investigation for the crime.

The documents show that he hired a lawyer who contacted the prosecutor's office that same week.

A woman who asked to be identified only as Lynette said Johnson is representing her son in a nonviolent Brazoria County case.

Unbeknownst to her, according to Lynette, Johnson called her son the same week the alleged drug incident occurred and demanded additional money outside of the agreed-upon payment plan. She said he claimed there were urgent court hearings and he would not represent her son if the extra money was not paid.

SEE MORE: Defense attorney accused of planting synthetic marijuana-laced paper on Harris County jail inmate

“It was a plea,” Lynette said. “It was a desperate cry for money, like I wanted it.”

She said she paid him about $550 on Sunday, August 11. On Thursday, Lynette said, he called again.

“It was an intimidation tactic,” Lynette said. “My son literally ran into the house and I asked, 'What's going on?' He said, 'This guy. He's calling me right now asking me for money. He said if I don't have the money today, I'm going to go to jail in a few hours.'”

Even though she had sent him $1,000 that day, Lynette said she could tell something was wrong with Johnson.

“We all had a bad feeling about this guy,” Lynette said. “We knew he wasn't being honest.”

She watched the news on Monday night, learned of Johnson's arrest, and said the events of the previous weeks made sense.

“It was so unorthodox,” Lynette said. “We've never heard of a lawyer behaving like that before, and we knew at that point that my son needed another lawyer. Keep in mind that was less than two weeks ago, so it honestly wasn't a surprise to see this on the news.”

Johnson's court date was scheduled for Tuesday morning, but was postponed until Wednesday morning.

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