Local senator votes to impeach Texas AG on trumped up charges

 

Jacksonville's Robert Nichols joined in the sham impeachment by voting against Texas voters.

The Texas State GOP controlled both chambers of the 88th Legislature's regular session ( Jan. 10 through May 29, 2023). Instead of dealing with illegal immigration and fentanyl pouring across the open southern border, lowering property taxes; and keeping children safe in schools, a faction of alcoholic RINOs in the Texas House led by Speaker Dade Phelan (Beaumont) used the session as a coup against the duly elected Attorney General Ken Paxton. Paxton beat George P. Bush overwhelmingly during the 2022 primary run-offs. Boo-Hoo.

 

Not a single shred of evidence was presented in the 16 articles of impeachment- the same talking points created by the Bush/Rove team and picked up by the media to smear their political opponents. Democrat run newspapers continue the farce of "Paxton's legal troubles..." They even paid Paxton's other Republican challenger Louie Gohmert, who had a snowball's chance in hell becoming Texas' Attorney General, to pretend it was real. The goal is to have Joe Biden's DOJ railroad Ken Paxton out of office, opening the door for George P. & Associates, because they can't win a fair election. 

Ever wonder why nothing ever gets done in Washington DC or Austin?

The RINO class always sides against what is best for Texans. And unfortunately, factions of the Texas government along with former East Texas Congressman Louie Gohmert take their marching orders from the politically defunct members of the Bush dynasty. 

 

The KISS ASS Party is united undermining the conservative agenda.

Congress is a whorehouse and the Texas House of Representatives is a drunken frat house. They don't give a rat's ass about what's best for Texas and line up like lemmings for the Bush family. Jacksonville's Robert Nichols showed his loyalty by voting on the record that Paxton was guilty of make-believe crimes that could never be proven. Kelly Hancock (Fort Worth) was the other Republican State Senator to vote to remove Paxton on concocted charges.

 

 Looking forward to the primaries.

State Senators Nichols and Hancock voted with Democrats to remove Ken Paxton. Both these esteemed Republicans knew the hearsay they voted to impeach on was patently false, yet they did so anyway, even after voting to dismiss four of the charges. Both are up for reelection in 2026, counting on their hometown media to cover up their constituents being stabbed in the back. Paxton's innocence gives them that much more access to out-of-state lobbyists at the public trough.

Only two Republicans crossed the aisle to vote in favor of conviction: Kelly Hancock of North Richland Hills, who voted to impeach Paxton on 12 articles, and Robert Nichols of Jacksonville, who voted to impeach Paxton on 11 articles. (Source: Texas Tribune, Sept. 16, 2023)

"A senate trial is something you just wouldn't understand..." 

Nichols voted Yea Jeb! on Article 5 involving a grand jury investigation conducted by a State appointed prosecutor looking into federal law enforcement's alleged misconduct. After being raided by the FBI, Paxton donor and Austin real estate investor Nate Paul claimed a cabal of area businessmen tied to George P. Bush had forced his properties into foreclosure and into a rigged federal bankruptcy court. Even though Paul had lost no money, Paxton agreed to look into it. Kelly Hancock voted for Article 8 regarding the alleged pay-offs of whistleblower complaints against the State (that were delegated to Paxton's staff and the legislature ). No witness testimony detailing wrongdoing was introduced into evidence, including a no-show of Paxton's so-called paid "mistress."

You can bet everyone in Ken Paxton's circle is being electronically monitored by the "granite countertop" police.

Whenever AG Paxton did his job, Bush loyalists accused him of a crime. Once under oath, House prosecutors' and their witness' litany of conjecture and lies crumbled under simple cross examination. House Impeachment Managers even convinced a retired Texas Ranger to make a fool out of himself on the stand, hoping to give their horseshit some gravitas. They made the whole thing up.

"Look at me... I'm not a lying piece of shit."

After millions of tax dollars wasted, the duly elected Texas Attorney General was acquitted on all 16 articles of impeachment. Primaried House Republicans who voted to have a sham trial in the senate will claim "they just needed to see the [non-existent] evidence" they were told "was overwhelming..."    Meanwhile, actual corruption and nepotism is ignored by those who owe their political careers to the dwindling influence of the Bush/Cheney clan in Crawford, TX. They invest in wide open border policies to keep the familial money flowing in their anti-American get rich schemes. Wonder where all those millions of illegal aliens crossing the border wind up?

Coming to a town near you. 

"Why Colony Ridge Should Serve As A Warning To The Rest Of The Nation" - US Rep Brian 10/5/23

Any voter wondering why their communities are overrun with crime and drugs can simply look at the shysters they put in office. Ever heard of the illegal alien haven Colony Ridge? The 50-square miles of investment real estate in Robert Nichols' southern most senatorial district he helped finagle? In 2017, Nichols squeezed in "local and uncontested" legislation to allow Colony Ridge land developers to give "owner financed" home loans to tens of thousands of illegal aliens. (Source: HB 4341, 2017) Now the Mexican drug cartels have overrun the Liberty County school districts with drugs and overwhelmed municipal services with an estimated 50,000 plus in new unvetted residents. Closer to home, Robert Nichols has the lowest conservative rating of every Republican in the Texas State Senate. 

 

As usual, it's all a big fat lie.

Bottom line is Robert Nichols is an uppity part-time con artist raised in East Texas good ol’ boy subterfuge. It's exciting to be part of a clandestine clique, like George Walker Bush back in the old CIA days. Nichols enjoys the back-room double-dealing as much as the shrimp cocktail dinners he attends. He is cut from the same cloth as other two-faced RINOs who take credit for all the pro-Life bills that get passed, while holding them up in committee and voting against them. He gets to fool everybody back home. And that is exactly what the idiots who put him in office want. Come election season, local newspapers will claim Senator Nichols "shares our conservative East Texas values," while in reality he routinely sides with liberal Democrats and against basic Judeo-Christian principles. The leftist Texas Tribune agrees:

At the least conservative end of the GOP ideological spectrum is a single senator, Robert Nichols of Jacksonville. Nichols has a Lib-Con Score that is significantly less conservative than those of 17 of his 18 Republican colleagues. (Analysis: The 2023 Texas Senate, from right to left, Texas Tribune- June 21, 2023)

Local paper chums up pedophile cop

 

Officer Seth Vanover hauled in for catfishing kids.

A recent outdoors section of the Jacksonville Progress highlighted Longview police officer and fishing guide Seth Vanover's passion for casting off in the Lake Fork reservoir in North East Texas. The contributing feature is from Carbon TV www.carbontv.com, an online video channel for recreational outdoosrmen.  The article was published in May 2022 and picked up by local newspapers. Vanover was arrested 5 months later for using social messaging apps to entice an 11-year-old child in Florida to engage in sex. He was also busted with child porn on the cellphone he carried around in his patrol car.

This past week, I joined my long time friend guide Seth Vanover and nephew [B.P.] (retired guide) for a few hours of red hot shallow water channel catfish catching at Lake Fork. This was not my first time to partake of this annual fishing fiesta and definitely not Seth’s. Each year about this time, we set aside a morning to fish together when the fish are up in very shallow pockets, feeding on spawning shad and worms and insects washed into the lake from recent rainfall... (Source: Cats under a cork, May 12, 2022 Daily Progress)

To Catch a Predator: Kids under a cork

Lt. Seth Vanover was netted in October 2022 during an out of state FBI sting.  While local newspapers celebrated his promotion with the Longview Police Department, Vanover was chatting it up online with undercover federal agents in Florida posing as like-minded child sex predators.

[Vanover] resigned his position as a lieutenant with the Longview Police Department, used cellphones and personal computers (including hardware owned by the City of Longview) to use social media apps. While using those apps, based on chatlogs provided in the affidavit, it appears that Vanover believed he was speaking with adults who would let him perform sexual acts on their children. (Source: KSLA 12)

Vanover pleaded guilty in August 2023 and faces up to life in prison.  From the Florida State Attorney press release:

Vanover confirmed that he was “into yung” and sent the agent several photos depicting child erotica as well as a photo of a nude adult male. Vanover and the undercover agent discussed the sexual experience of the purported 11-year-old “child,” and Vanover stated that he would “love to” meet them in Florida and would “love to be naked with” the “child.” Vanover and the agent engaged in more conversations on the app on August 8 and 10, 2022, and September 19, 2022, during which the two discussed meeting in Florida so that Vanover could engage in sexual activity with the “child.” Vanover confirmed with the agent that the “child” was “open to have sex,” discussed details of the sexual acts that Vanover intended to perform on the “child,” and directed the agent to “[t]alk to [the “child”] about the intended sexual activity.”

On October 12, 2022, FBI agents arrested Vanover at the Longview Police Department and Vanover resigned on that same day. Agents searched a patrol vehicle used by Vanover and recovered a cellphone that belonged to Vanover. A review of the phone revealed that it contained at least 230 videos and 130 photos depicting the sexual abuse of children, including infants, toddlers, and young children. This phone also contained sexually explicit online written communications that Vanover had with other app users, as well as child sexual abuse videos and photos that Vanover received during some of these conversations.  (Source: United States Attorney's Office Middle District of Florida)

No comment from Vanover's superiors or East Texas authorities on how he was spending his time on duty.

The Jacksonville Progress and affiliates may not have known the "tour guide" in their May 12, 2022 edition was fishing for sex with little kids, while simultaneously showing off his own preschool son at the lake. However, they did venture out of their comfort zone to publish multiple puff pieces about a Longview police officer up in North East Texas to aggrandize him throughout the region. Each article dating back to 2016 was written for local consumption, courtesy of his best friend, a contributing outdoor sports writer in the area with ties to small town newspapers. The children's whereabouts in Vanover's personal kiddie porn collection have not been released.

 

 As a footnote, on Wednesday, Dec 20, 2023, Officer Seth Vanover was sentenced to 12 years and 11 months in federal prison, probated to 15-years supervision as a life-time registered sex offender. (Source: U.S. Attorney's Office, Middle District of Florida)

According to court documents obtained by the Longview News-Journal, a man, who was identified as Vanover, had conversations with two undercover FBI agents via social media that show he wanted to have sex with a 9-year-old and an 11-year-old girl. The app was also reached on devices registered to the city of Longview.

Vanover admitted to trying to persuade, induce, entice or coerce an 11-year-old girl to having sex using communication on cell phones and Internet devices. 

A conversation from July 2022 show messages from a different FBI agent and an account called "jattleson." The account "jattleson" was interested in meeting the agent's girlfriend's 11-year-old daughter. 

At one point in the messages, the agent asks how old "jattleson" is. The user says 44 and then sends a photo a nude man standing in front of a bathroom mirror, the document detailed. 

The man behind the "jattleson" account said he's always wanted to have sex with a girl. Through a subpoena, the FBI learned the contact associated with that account was Seth Vanover and the city of Longview was the subscriber, according to the complaint. 

Vanover was arrested on Oct. 12, 2022 at the Longview Police Department and he resigned the same day, On his cell phone in his patrol car, a search found 234 videos and 133 photos showing the sexual abuse of children, including infants, toddlers, and other young children, according to the Department of Justice. 

Officials also found sexually explicit online communications that Vanover had with other app users, as well as child sexual abuse videos and photos that Vanover asked for and received during some of these conversations.  (Source CBS19)

 

Jacksonville meth supplier sentenced in federal court; It takes crack to crack the case

2/16/22 - Pablo Antonio Sandoval, 200 block Tilley St. Jacksonville, TX

 

Jacksonville, TX:

In February 2022, Pablo Sandoval was busted with crystal meth and a stolen gun during an early morning traffic stop near his home in Jacksonville, TX. He was held in Gregg County jail under a federal detainer for drug trafficking, and after pleading guilty, eventually moved to Henderson County custody to await his sentencing in US District Court.  

Cherokee County, TX arrests for Feb. 15-21, 2022:

Pablo Antonio Sandoval, 23, Jacksonville, theft of firearm, no drivers licence [sic], traffic offense Class C, possession with intent to distribute a controlled substance.

(Source: Jacksonville Progress)

Pablo Sandoval, 200 block Tilley St., Jacksonville, TX (courtesy Henderson Co.)

Crystal meth dealers living in Cherokee County travel throughout East Texas, delivering drugs and mayhem to neighboring counties. Low income housing, cheap hotels, RV parks and converted half-way homes are used as layovers for drug mules monitored by multiple agencies. Local addicts are in and out of jail based on the amount of snitching they can provide, no matter their escalating risk to the public. Resident crackheads are worth their weight in Narcotic Task Force funding.

10 years ago, Jacksonville City Council rezoned former dormitory buildings from defunct Lon Morris College into multifamily Section 8 apartments along Sunset and Tilley St. where Pablo Sandoval lived.

After the college went into bankruptcy, owner Tilley LLC took control of the property with the intention of combining pairs of the 38 smallish dorm rooms into roughly 22 larger apartments. There are some proposed "double bedrooms" in the plans, each of which will require three dorm rooms to be put together to create, [Jacksonville Public Works Director Will] Cole said. (Source: City Council rezones so former Lon Morris dorms can be converted to apartments, Jan. 10, 2013 Jacksonville Daily Progress)

23-year old Pablo Sandoval, who was born in California, admitted to distributing large amounts of crystal meth in Cherokee County after he was detained by Jacksonville PD in February 2022. He pleaded guilty to drug trafficking last year in federal court and in April 2023, sentenced to 14 years.  (Source: KETK)

The "California man" as they call him, supplied crystal meth to his Jacksonville neighbors in October 2021, but wasn't actually incarcerated until February 2022 when he was picked up in the wee morning hours. Apparently he just rode around town for 4 months without a driver's license... even though the newspaper and Henderson County reported his Jacksonville, Texas residency.

From the US Attorney's Eastern District of Texas press release April 19, 2023:

California Man Sentenced for Federal Drug Trafficking Violations in East Texas -            

According to information presented in court, in October 2021, [Pablo] Sandoval supplied more than 500 grams of methamphetamine to drug dealers in Cherokee County, Texas, which he sourced from suppliers in California. Sandoval was indicted by a federal grand jury in the Eastern District of Texas in April 2022. (Source: DOJ)

United States v. Sandoval, 6:21-CR-00081-JDK

When a Nacogdoches, TX resident is sentenced for the same drug trafficking charges in the same US District Court, and on the same docket as Pablo Sandoval, the meth dealer is referred to a "Nacogdoches man" -  not by where his suppliers are located. (Source: April 28, 2023, Nacogdoches man sentenced to 15 years in federal prison after pleading guilty to drug trafficking- KETK)

 

The same US District Court that sentences female embezzlers to federal prison for stealing from non-profits, totally ignores over $430,000 stolen by the Cherokee County Tax Assessor's office.

East Texas authorities at the state and federal level attempt to blame other areas of the country for the crystal meth they know is manufactured in Cherokee County, Texas. As if 23-year old Pablo Sandoval was driving back and forth from Bakersfield, California with no driver's license to sell his homegrown East Texas poison. Cherokee County has a fine history of constables and police chiefs cooking up meth labs in the woods, a Jacksonville police officer raping transient women, girls being snatched from abuse shelters and their dead bodies dumped like trash;  and unindicted Tax Assessor officials stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars out the Rusk, TX courthouse.  

The more the local drug addicts steal, the more narcotics enforcement grant money the county can steal. 

(April 21, 2023- Vehicle theft ring investigation in Cherokee County leads to 4 arrests, 1 still at large,  KETK)

As a footnote, Cherokee County is patting themselves on the back for rounding up their favorite resident recidivist meth addicts, each averaging about a dozen catch-and-release arrests in the last few years, and charging the group with "Organized Crime."  Their court mandated drug rehab at the Rusk State Hospital has escalated into Grand Theft Auto. One member of the group, Edward Jones, is still at large after being released in Cherokee County last year for Aggravated Assault with a Deadly Weapon on top of multiple drug arrests here, there, and everywhere.

Edward Lee Jones, Jacksonville TX

Cherokee County, TX arrests and releases:

03/25/2021 F.T.A. POSS MARIJ < 2OZ(CCSO) - Bond: $5000

02/10/2022 POSS CS PG 1/1-B >= 4G < 200G - Bond: $20000
POSS CS PG 1/1-B < 1G

02/28/2022 POSS CS PG 1/1-B <1G (JPD WARRANT)  - Bond: $2500.00 

05/21/2022 AGG ASSLT W/DEADLY WEAPON - Bond: $25000

02/07/2023  THEFT OF SERV >= $100 < $750 - Bond: $1000
THEFT OF SERV >= $100 < $750 - Bond: $1000
UNAUTH USE OF VEHICLE  - Bond: $2500
BURGLARY OF BUILDING - Bond: $2500 

Footnote: fugitive Edward Jones was picked up in the Dallas area in mid June for stealing and shipped back home. He is facing facing theft / organized crime charges with a total $90,000 bond. The tattoos on his face gave him away.

 

 .

Edward Jones (courtesy Dallas PD)

Murdering drug snitches turn state's evidence- Part 1

 

 

Capital murder suspect Dylan Welch from Jacksonville, TX gets to live to tell his tale the way it was told to him.

New Summerfield, TX: 

Friday February 3, 2023 - Cherokee County District Attorney Elmer Beckworth announced he would not be seeking the death penalty for Dylan Welch, one of the three defendants from the July 21, 2021 quadruple murder of four New Summerfield residents. (Source: CBS 19) Beckworth was able to flip his favorite of the three currently incarcerated homicide suspects by taking lethal injection off the table and getting the Dylan Welch defense team the most sober court appointed attorney on the Rusk square. Welch will be testifying against fellow drug informants Jesse Pawlowski and Billy Phillips, who both remain eligible for capital punishment. Until one of them admits to only driving the stolen getaway car. (Source: Prosecution will not seek death penalty for 1 of 3 Cherokee County quadruple homicide suspects, KETK)

Stolen 2017 Dodge Challenger (Source: Daily Progress)

 

Cherokee County DA office meets their murder case quota by releasing violent drug offenders.

From July 2021 - Three career criminals in Jacksonville, TX have been arrested and charged with the capital murder of four residents in nearby New Summerfield, TX. The bodies of John Clinton, Jeff Gerla, Ami Hickey, and Amanda Barnes were found in a home in the 1600 block of Hwy 101 N. (Source: CBS 19) The three suspects have avoided past prosecution and tough sentencing by agreeing to be confidential informants for Cherokee County law enforcement. All three have been arrested and released for similar crimes in the last few years, despite being on Supervised Probation.

Left to Right : Jesse James Pawlowski age 20, Dylan Welch age 21, and Billy Dean Phillips age 37 (Source: KLTV)

 

Jesse Pawlowski and Dylan Welch both have probated burglary convictions buried in the 2nd Judicial District court; absconding sex offender Billy Phillips was arrested by Jacksonville Police and released 2 weeks prior to the killings. Pawlowski was reported to have been in an polyamorous relationship with two of the victims. The Cherokee County Sheriff Department issued a statement concluding the killings resulted in a dispute over "guns and clothes," not mentioning the extensive drug use and stolen 2017 Dodge Challenger that led to their arrests. Sheriff Dickson's version of events excluded that all three had been in and out of Cherokee County custody while escalating their crime sprees. (Source: KETK)

Cherokee County's chickens come home to roost

It is Cherokee County's policing policy to catch and release drug addicts and violent criminals to bolster their counterfeit crime statistics for federal funding.

Prison ministries are used by the District Attorney's office to recruit sex offenders to sit on Cherokee County jury pools. Local drug addicts are shuffled into worthless treatment programs so the State can be hourly billed for nonexistent rehabilitation. They get arrested and re-arrested all the time but very rarely see the inside of a courtroom. Friendly neighborhood potheads who could easily be picked up at the Treatment Center for failing their urinalysis, often get their parties crashed by the Po Po during election cycles. Resident crackheads are caught and released with no bail to encourage them to escalate their crime sprees. What results is a show of force by small town police units for news cameras, while chicken shit prosecutors pretend to enforce the law.

Police tank vs. mobile home

 

Jacksonville, TX : 1/17/23 SWAT standoff with resident drug addicts hiding a stolen gun (Source: Barricaded man taken into custody by SWAT team in Cherokee County, KETK)

 

Lionel Charles, Jr. is such a threat to SWAT, they him released 4 times in 2022 without setting bail.

Lionel Joseph Charles Jr., 34, was arrested for drug possession and released WITH NO BOND in Cherokee County on four separate occasions in the last year alone. On January 17, 2023, he barricaded himself in a mobile home during a SWAT raid in Jacksonville, TX. Prior to that he had been arrested and released on multiple marijuana, crack cocaine, theft, and credit card abuse charges.

Lionel Charles has been in and out of drug offenders programs, courtesy of Cherokee County taxpayers and the 2nd Judicial District Court.

Criminal Docket Case 20217 ; FORGERY FINANCIAL INSTRUMENT ELDERLY
THE STATE OF TEXAS vs CHARLES, LIONEL JOSEPH JR
Filed 10/24/2016 - Disposition: 01/19/2017 Deferred adjudication
2nd District Court, Cherokee County, Texas

Criminal Docket Case 20218 ; UNAUTH USE OF VEHICLE
THE STATE OF TEXAS vs CHARLES, LIONEL JOSEPH JR
Filed 10/24/2016 - Disposition: 01/17/2017 Deferred adjudication
2nd District Court, Cherokee County, Texas

Criminal Docket; Case 20219 ; POSS CS PG 1 <1G
THE STATE OF TEXAS vs CHARLES, LIONEL JOSEPH JR
Filed 10/24/2016 - Disposition: 01/19/2017 Deferred adjudication
2nd District Court, Cherokee County, Texas

Criminal Docket; Case 21256 ; CREDIT CARD OR DEBIT CARD ABUSE
THE STATE OF TEXAS vs CHARLES, LIONEL JOSEPH JR
Filed 09/12/2019 - Disposition: 11/06/2019 Conviction-guilty plea or nolo cont-no jury
2nd District Court, Cherokee County, Texas

Criminal Docket; Case 22188 ; UNKNOWN
THE STATE OF TEXAS vs CHARLES, LIONEL JOSEPH JR
Filed 08/29/2022 - Disposition:
2nd District Court, Cherokee County, Texas

Cherokee County releases drug addicts and thieves without bond so they can be followed around town.

Jail records prove Lionel Charles was released unconditionally on his own recognizance (OR) the last four times he was busted, so he could reoffend and lead authorities to the next neighborhood crack house sting. This most recent Jan. 17, 2023 raid was conducted by the Jacksonville Police Department; a stolen firearm and other property were recovered without incident. Jacksonville resident Patrick Long was also arrested for the Gun Theft. (Source: Officials identify suspect involved in SWAT standoff in Cherokee County, KLTV)

Patrick Ryan Long,  aka "Junior," "Big Bad Wolf," and "Fat Pat" 1/17/23 

"Hurry up and go steal something, boy!" 

Patrick Long had just been released on theft charges back in September 2022 with no recorded Bond. Despite multiple arrests by Jacksonville PD, many of his charges have never been prosecuted by the district attorney. The county gets to bill for similar suspects' never-ending substance abuse rehab, who dons such colorful nicknames for the staff.

09/16/2022 -THEFT PROP >= $2,500 < $30K; released no Bond
09/16/2019 - Terroristic threat against family member; Bond: $2500
06/19/2019 - Assault family violence; Bond: $2000
03/08/2019 - Assault Class C; released no Bond
09/13/2018 - Burglary Of Habitation; bond: $30000
08/02/2018 - Assault Peace Officer/ Resist arrest; Bond: $22000
01/08/2018 - Assault Peace Officer/ Resist arrest / threaten family violence; Bond: $22000
09/30/2016 - Discharge of firearm in city limits; citation
04/06/2016 - Terroristic threat; Bond: $1500
07/03/2015 - POSS MARIJ < 2OZ; Bond: $1000
09/04/2010 - charges reduced to Class C misdemeanor
09/13/2006 - POSS MARIJ < 2OZ; Bond: $750
04/21/2004 - Disorderly conduct/ Drug Paraph/ Traffic exhibition accel - released 

 (Courtesy: texas.arrests.org)

As a footnote, another violent drug spree with hostages and SWAT took place Tuesday, January 24, 2023 in southern Cherokee County. Three local drug addicts with long criminal histories were arrested for attempting to kidnap residents in a trailer park north of Wells, according to Tyler based media. (Source: 3 arrested in alleged kidnapping, assault in Wells, KETK)

Alice Hayes, Wesley Wallace, and Chad Campbell (courtesy KETK)

Alice Hayes and Wesley Wallace were charged with aggravated kidnapping w/deadly weapon; Chad Campbell was charged for drug possession. The three suspects live in the Wells, TX community. (Source: KLTV) Cherokee County newspapers remain silent on the incident.

 

Such a safe place to raise a family. (Source KLTV)

Stolen: over $430,000 from Cherokee County tax office (and they won't report who did it)

They won't tell you who stole $431,375 out of the Cherokee County, TX courthouse over a 5 year period. 

Every wonder why your property taxes keep going through the roof each year? It was quietly reported in July 2022 that the Texas Rangers were investigating the disappearance of over $430,000 in funds from the Cherokee County, TX Tax Assessor-Collector's office.  (Source: Funds missing from Cherokee County tax office, KLTV) After all the hemming and hawing with the County Appraisal District's property tax shortfalls, even blaming "clerical data entry mistakes," there is a simple reason why the county tax roll levy doesn't match what is reported to the State Comptroller. (Source: Jacksonville council calls for chief appraiser’s removal,  Jacksonville Progress)

County commissioners gear up to sue courthouse thief before their unnamed coworker is charged. Or will she ever be charged?

Will she be indicted by her cousins at all? After several forensic audits, $431,375.91 was confirmed stolen between 2015 and 2021 by an elected official in the Cherokee County Tax Assessor's Office.  Instead of publishing the name of the former Cherokee County official responsible for the missing money, the Cherokee County Commissioners Court is suing the unnamed female embezzler in Civil Court with the help of Tyler based attorneys Flowers Davis PLLC. (Source: County leaders to pursue civil suit in tax office theft case, Cherokeean)

In 2021, an internal audit of the Tax Assessor’s Office revealed county documents did not match what was reported to the state comptroller, said the Cherokeean.

Another audit was conducted by an outside company, and they also found there was an inconsistency and that $431,375.91 was missing, said officials. This was allegedly taken between 2015 and 2021 by an employee who had worked for the county for several years, according to the Cherokeean.  (Source: Cherokee County Commissioners Court votes to begin civil suit after money stolen from county tax office, KETK)

Cherokee County Commissioner's Court "...we're gonna get that money back from her, but we ain't gonna tell you who stole it..." (Courtesy: Jacksonville Progress)

 

 

Putting the cart before the horse.

With countywide elections around the corner, County Commissioners are eager to appear on top of the $430,000 stolen out from under their noses. They've announced a lawsuit against a still unnamed and unindicted defendant who is apparently related to members on the last two sitting 2022 Grand Juries. This gives the District Attorney's office time to wrangle with the thief's cousins behind closed doors before a potential trial jury is hand-picked and she is offered a settlement. Of course local media doesn't question the bass-ackwards civil suit against an undisclosed former county employee who hasn't been charged with an actual crime. In the interim you are to assume a low level courthouse clerk is capable of doctoring the books of nearly half a million dollars reported to the State Comptroller. They wouldn't lie to you...

Friends in low places

Will Elmer Beckworth recuse himself?

The "investigation" into the missing $430,000 began in January 2022; it was hidden from the public for 7 months until being leaked to the press in July 2022.  It's been over a year since the initial audit confirmed the stolen $430,000 and there are no reports of any criminal charges being filed by good friend Cherokee County District Attorney Elmer Beckworth who works in the same building as the thief.  As does Chris Davis and the entire Commissioners Court. She always brought cookies for everyone...

Gina Upshaw, (4th from the left) et al are lauded with their 15-year service awards, circa 2019 (Jacksonville Progress).

 "Just pay back what you can and don't talk to nobody..."

 

 Missing vs. Stolen

Audit reveals over $430,000 missing from county tax office, July 13, 2022- Jacksonville Progress

An internal audit of Cherokee County offices and departmental accounts revealed a discrepancy of $431,375.91 related to the tax office.

“Red flags were discovered by my internal auditor in doing a routine part of the audit that initially drew our attention to this,” said Cherokee County Auditor Steven Daughety. “We did do an audit report. Those findings were turned over to the D.A. because of our concerns with it.”

The information was presented to the district attorney on January 12, 2022, according to Daughety. 

District Attorney Elmer Beckworth confirmed only that the Texas Rangers were investigating the matter and that, if the missing amount is proven, the offense would be considered a felony. When questioned about the forensic auditor Daughety said was retained, Beckworth would only speak in generalities, stating the hire of a forensic auditor in such cases would be standard procedure. (Source: Daily Progress, July 13, 2022)

Where are the feds and the Attorney General?

Cherokee County voters are supposed to remain in the dark while their tax dollars are embezzled in the Rusk courthouse. Imagine the response in neighboring Smith County (with a population and budget 5 times the size of Cherokee County) if a mere $4500 went missing from the county tax rolls.  The suspected official's name and face would be all over the 6 o'clock news. Commissioners jumping the gun with a civil suit, before a criminal case has been made by the District Attorney's office, portends the Dog & Pony Show leading up to the May election cycle.  Local media does not make the correlation between hiding the identity of government thieves and their incentive to keep stealing. Obviously, they're all in on it.

Footnote 6/2/23: Gina Upshaw, 62 from Rusk TX was formerly indicted by a Cherokee County grand jury for stealing $431,375.91 from taxpayers during her tenure as Tax Assessor bookkeeper. Of course, no one in the Rusk courthouse has ever met her, or laid eyes on her. They do hope you enjoy your ever increasing property tax hikes (Source: Cherokee County tax office bookkeeper indicted for theft, money laundering, KETK).

Gina Upshaw receives 15-year service award, circa 2019 (Jacksonville Progress).

Gina Upshaw, was employed for 18 years at the Rusk courthouse with the County Clerk's office, and later handpicked by the Commissioners Court as the Cherokee County Tax Assessor Collector Bookkeeper.  (courtesy KETK)