David J. Johnson, who headed the FBI’s Salt Lake City division, is shifting gears a bit to the west and taking over the San Francisco office.
Johnson began his career with the FBI in 1991, and was first posted a Violent Crime Squad in the San Jose Resident Agency.
In 1994, he was assigned to the High Technology Squad, and worked on a case that became the first to be prosecuted under the economic espionage classification.
In 1997, Johnson was assigned to a Mexican Drug Trafficking Organization Squad. Two years later, he became a supervisory special agent of the Asian Organized Crime Squad in the San Jose Resident Agency. He led two multi-agency task forces that targeted human trafficking and police corruption and racketeering cases, the FBI said.
As the chief of the Crimes against Children Unit, he developed the Innocence Lost National Initiative, which identifies and rescues minors involved in prostitution and investigates the pimps involved in these crimes.
He was promoted to the assistant special agent in charge of the San Francisco Division, and in 2008 he led the task force created by the attorney general to conduct a criminal investigation into the destruction of interrogation videotapes by the CIA.
In 2009, he became chief of the Violent Crimes Section in the Criminal Investigative Division, responsible for managing programs that involve federal violations such as bank robberies, kidnappings, extortions, crimes against children, Indian country matters, fugitives, major theft, transportation crimes, and special jurisdiction matters.
In 2011, he was reassigned to be the chief of the newly created Latin America/Southwest Border Threat Section.
Johnson has a law degree from the University of Pittsburgh.
Loren Cannon has replaced Johnson as the acting head of the Utah FBI.
