Embattled NJ Dem accused of stealing money from Democratic club, previously charged with selling cocaine and meth to undercover cop

A former New Jersey councilman has been accused of stealing money from a Democratic club. Previously, the Democratic politician was charged with selling cocaine and meth to an undercover cop.

On Thursday, the Hunterdon County Prosecutor's Office said Malik D. Johnston – of Flemington, New Jersey – was indicted by a grand jury on a charge of theft by unlawful taking – a third-degree crime. He was initially charged with the crime in October. If convicted of the third-degree crime, Johnston faces up to five years in prison and a fine of as much as $15,000.

Johnston, 47, is a former member of the Flemington township council and a former officer of the Flemington Democratic Club.

Johnston, also known as Pippin J. Folk, is accused of going to a bank in Bridgewater and withdrawing $1,000 from an account belonging to the Flemington Democratic Club on June 2, 2023.

According to prosecutors, Johnston was no longer a member of the Flemington Democratic Club at the time of the withdrawal.

Authorities did not reveal how Johnston gained access to the account or whether he spent the stolen money.

After being charged, Johnston ignored pressure from the community for him to resign from the township council. However, he did not run for reelection in November 2023.

This is not Johnston's first brush with the law.

In June 2023, Johnston was indicted by a Hunterdon County Grand Jury on eight drug charges. The embattled Dem was indicted on two counts of third-degree possession of cocaine, two counts of third-degree possession of methamphetamine, second-degree distribution of cocaine, second-degree distribution of methamphetamine, second-degree possession with intent to distribute cocaine, and second-degree possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine.

Johnston reportedly sold cocaine and methamphetamine to an undercover police officer in Raritan Township between December 2022 and February 2023, according to Hunterdon County Prosecutor Renée M. Robeson.

Johnston's pretrial hearing in that case is scheduled for June 3.

At a Flemington council meeting in March 2023, a woman accused Johnston of offering drugs to her teen daughter.

The mother said the councilman approached her then 18-year-old daughter outside Burlington Coat Factory and asked her if “she does crystal.”

The teen allegedly then went home and asked her mother what "crystal" was.

The mother said she knew that crystal was a slang word for drugs because she had been addicted to opioids before her recovery four years prior.

At the council meeting, a second woman demanded that Johnston resign from his position by telling him, "Malik you need to step down now, This is not going away."

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