The Arizona woman who attempted to poison her husband by putting bleach into the coffeemaker was sentenced last Thursday to three years probation.
Melony Felicano Johnson was initially charged last August with first-degree attempted murder, attempted aggravated assault, and poisoning for regularly pouring bleach into the coffeemaker for months in an attempt to poison her husband, Roby Johnson.
In April, Johnson pleaded guilty to two felony counts of adding a harmful substance to food or drink, for which she could have faced up to two years in prison for each count. As part of the plea deal, Johnson could have been sentenced to either prison or probation or a combination of both.
The defense requested a sentence of time served, arguing that Johnson had remained in custody since her arrest because she was unable to post the $250,000 bond.
According to court documents, Johnson’s husband first noticed that his coffee had a foul taste when he and his wife were living in Germany while he was stationed there with the US Air Force in March 2023.
The couple were already going through a divorce at the time but were still living together.
Eventually, Roby Johnson tested the coffee pot using pool testing strips. The strips showed a high level of chlorine. He installed cameras in the kitchen that captured Melony pouring something into the coffeemaker that subsequent video footage revealed was bleach.
Johnson decided to wait until he was transferred back to Tucson before reporting it to the police. In the meantime, while they remained in Germany, he continued to pretend to drink the bleach-tainted coffee.
Following his transfer to Davis Monthan Air Base near Tucson, Johnson filed a police report and provided them with the footage showing his wife pouring bleach into the coffeemaker.
During sentencing, Judge Javier Chon-Lopez noted that even her estranged husband told the court that he did not want his wife to receive prison time.
In addition to probation, Judge Chon-Lopez ordered Johnson to undergo a mental evaluation. He also barred her from drinking alcohol and prohibited her from having any contact with Roby Johnson, except in the presence of their attorneys.
