{"id":44121,"date":"2026-08-19T16:59:26","date_gmt":"2026-08-19T21:59:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/?p=44121"},"modified":"2026-08-15T18:02:11","modified_gmt":"2026-08-15T23:02:11","slug":"fergus-falls-man-faces-3-witness-tampering-charges","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/fergus-falls-man-faces-3-witness-tampering-charges\/","title":{"rendered":"Fergus Falls Man Faces 3 Witness Tampering Charges"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Fergus Falls Man Faces 3 Witness Tampering Charges<\/h2>\n

Fergus Falls<\/strong> (trfnews.i234.me<\/a>) \u2014 A Fergus Falls man faces three witness tampering charges in Otter Tail County.<\/p>\n

Michael Gene Johnson, 55, was charged after an investigation involving a disputed Ford F-150 Raptor.<\/p>\n

The criminal complaint says the case began with a reported vehicle theft in Bloomington.<\/p>\n

Dispute Over Ford Raptor<\/h2>\n

A man identified as M.A.T. told police he let Jennifer Vold borrow his 2019 Ford F-150 Raptor.<\/p>\n

He later reported the truck missing and said he never sold it to Vold.<\/p>\n

Court records say the truck’s title was later transferred into Vold’s name.<\/p>\n

Investigators reviewed title records and compared signatures tied to the transfer.<\/p>\n

The complaint says the signatures raised concerns about whether the transfer was valid.<\/p>\n

Investigators later found the Raptor listed for resale at a Fergus Falls dealership.<\/p>\n

The complaint says Vold traded the Raptor for another Ford F-150 and a $10,000 check.<\/p>\n

The dealership valued the Raptor at $42,000, according to the complaint.<\/p>\n

Court records say Johnson posted bail one day after the dealership issued the check.<\/p>\n

Phone Call Leads To Charges<\/h2>\n

Investigators later obtained a search warrant connected to the vehicle investigation.<\/p>\n

On June 16, police contacted Johnson and Vold at the Fergus Falls dealership.<\/p>\n

\"Michael
Michael Gene Johnson<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Vold was arrested, and officers took possession of the newer Ford F-150, according to the complaint.<\/p>\n

Investigators also searched a Fergus Falls residence connected to Johnson and Vold.<\/p>\n

The complaint says officers found vehicle documents, a license plate, and another truck key.<\/p>\n

Later that day, M.A.T. reported receiving a threatening phone call from Johnson.<\/p>\n

The complaint alleges Johnson threatened to fabricate charges unless M.A.T. helped get Vold released.<\/p>\n

Johnson also allegedly offered to replace the truck and provide money owed to M.A.T.<\/p>\n

Phone records later showed an outgoing call to M.A.T. at 1:59 p.m., prosecutors allege.<\/p>\n

Investigators say the number was tied to Johnson’s account and Fergus Falls address.<\/p>\n

Three Witness Tampering Charges<\/h2>\n

Johnson faces one gross misdemeanor count of second-degree witness tampering.<\/p>\n

That charge carries up to 364 days in jail, a $3,000 fine, or both.<\/p>\n

He also faces two misdemeanor counts of third-degree witness tampering.<\/p>\n

Each misdemeanor carries up to 90 days in jail, a $1,000 fine, or both.<\/p>\n

One count alleges an attempt to prevent testimony through intimidation.<\/p>\n

The other alleges an attempt to influence a witness to give false testimony.<\/p>\n

Readers can review Minnesota Statute 609.498<\/a> for the state’s witness tampering law.<\/p>\n

More court information is available through the Minnesota Judicial Branch<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The allegations are accusations and have not been proven in court.<\/p>\n

Johnson is presumed innocent unless proven guilty.<\/p>\n

I’m Adrian Cole reporting for TRF News<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Copyright 2026 TRF News. All rights reserved.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/article>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A Fergus Falls man faces three witness tampering charges after prosecutors allege he threatened a witness over a disputed pickup truck.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":44122,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_wpscp_schedule_draft_date":"","_wpscp_schedule_republish_date":"","_wpscppro_advance_schedule":false,"_wpscppro_advance_schedule_date":"","_wpscppro_dont_share_socialmedia":false,"_wpscppro_custom_social_share_image":0,"_facebook_share_type":"","_twitter_share_type":"","_linkedin_share_type":"","_pinterest_share_type":"","_linkedin_share_type_page":"","_instagram_share_type":"","_medium_share_type":"","_threads_share_type":"","_google_business_share_type":"","_bluesky_share_type":"","_mastodon_share_type":"","_selected_social_profile":[],"_wpsp_enable_custom_social_template":false,"_wpsp_social_scheduling":{"enabled":false,"datetime":null,"platforms":[],"status":"template_only","dateOption":"today","timeOption":"now","customDays":"","customHours":"","customDate":"","customTime":"","schedulingType":"absolute"},"_wpsp_active_default_template":true},"categories":[12],"tags":[22421,15289,23132,23131,955,19497,12004],"class_list":["post-44121","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-crime","tag-fergus-falls-mn","tag-fergus-falls-news","tag-jennifer-vold","tag-michael-gene-johnson","tag-minnesota-crime-news","tag-otter-tail-county-court","tag-witness-tampering","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44121","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=44121"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44121\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":44123,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44121\/revisions\/44123"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/44122"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=44121"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=44121"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=44121"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}