State suspends counselor John Penn following relapse into cocaine use

October 11, 2013

On April 27, 2012, the Minnesota Board of Behavioral Health and Therapy suspended the counseling and drug-alcohol counseling licenses of John Penn.

According to the Board’s document, Penn pleaded guilty March 2, 2012 to felony Terroristic Threats-Explosives/Incendiary Device.

This conviction was the result of an incident in which Penn locked himself in a vehicle and threatened to kill himself and threatened law enforcement by stating that he had a bomb and a gun.

He had neither but was hoping law enforcement would kill him based on his threats.

This incident was due in part to a recent relapse into intravenous cocaine use, after 30 years of sobriety.