Still missing and unaccounted- $150,000 stolen from the City of Rusk, Texas (pop. 5200)
Rusk, Texas:The trial of Doris Robinson, the Rusk, TX Water Department clerk and wife of Jacksonville, TX councilman Hubert Robinson, was reported by the local media as going to jury selection on October 14, 2008. The trial was slated for the next day in the 369th District Court, according to the same local media. The original indictment/investigation had been postponed for over a year. Where is the missing money?
(Source: Jacksonville Daily Progress, September 11, 2008)
“She faces one count of tampering with a government record and one count of theft of property by a public servant in an amount over $100,000 but less than $200,000,” said District Attorney Elmer Beckworth. “The crime is elevated due to her position as a public servant. The theft charge she faces is a first-degree felony.”
"[Doris] Robinson was indicted by a grand jury Feb. 25 and has since pleaded not guilty at her arraignment hearing. She is being represented at trial by attorney John Green. The trial will be held in the 369th District Court in Rusk, with Judge Bascom Bentley III presiding."
According to the front page of the Rusk, Texas newspaper published prior to jury selection, Mrs. Hubert Robinson’s lawyers contend their client was “not a thief” and the City of Rusk accounting procedures was to blame for the missing $150,000.
(Source: Cherokeean Herald, September 10, 2008)
“Mrs. Robinson is represented by Houston attorney John Green.
Mr. Green described Mrs. Robinson as a "good lady, not a thief. She is honest, law abiding and scared to death. The stress is almost unbearable to her."
Mr. Green continued in saying, "There was a long period of time when the books were not reconciled. I don't know if they can prove there was money missing. Since then they have gone to new controls (a new bookkeeping system). She got a raw deal. No one saw her taking the money. The evidence is on her side.
"We will be prepared to pick a jury. But, we are trying to settle this thing out of court. I think it will be best for everyone. If not, we will go to trial or get a continuance," Mr. Green said.
Well, apparently the missing money may still go ‘UNACCOUNTED’, even though the 'independent' Palestine based Texas Rangers audited the City of Rusk, TX at the request of Cherokee County prosecutors. Where is the missing money?
(Source: Cherokeean Herald, September 10, 2008)
“Early on in the investigation, Texas Ranger Rudy Flores was asked to participate in the inquiry. The time frame was narrowed to a two-year period spanning from 2004- 06. An independent, forensic audit was performed at the request of District Attorney Elmer Beckworth. ”
Pct. 1 Councilman Hubert Robinson did make a "neighborly" appearance prior to the alleged "trial" at the National Night Out festivities held October 8th at Robinson’s Jacksonville, TX church. A little sleight of hand and good free publicity courtesy of local newspaper staff writers always helps a good cause. As sure as a cat can lick its butt, the Cherokee County media does it share hand-in-hand and lockstep with county officials in whitewashing local theft of services. No news articles from the region ask the simple question: Where is the missing $150,000 in water bill collections? Who is going to be held accountable?
Nothing like having sweet deals and puff pieces written about a poor old stressed out defendant a couple of weeks before "jury selection." The fact is a Cherokee County Texas petit jury has never been and never will be summoned to hear the case of the missing $150,000. Secondly, only those with political connections within the county have the privilege of having their Defense attorneys air their side of the case in the Cherokeean Herald and Daily Progress hours before the small town jury pool is vetted.
The local East Texas newspapers and media outlets certainly will not inform the public that the case has been dismissed and/or postponed into infinity. At the direction of the Cherokee County District Attorney's office, this story of theft of public monies has been completely buried by the Cherokee County Texas media. Where is the missing money, Mr. Prosecutor for the State of Texas? How sweet it is for a Councilman's wife.
The US Census and City Data reports Rusk, Texas government finances for 2002 alone stood at $220,000 for water utilities and operations. See http://www.city-data.com/city/Rusk-Texas.html More than half of that has disappeared from the Rusk city hall coffers.
Jacksonville, TX:
Similarly, the Texas Municipal League (the liability insurance provider for a pool of high risk city governments) glosses over the recruitment policies of the city of Jacksonville, TX by dolling out internal awards to their small town insurance carriers. Even those like the city of Jacksonville whose law enforcement protocol is profiling 24/7. And no mention of the enormous premiums the city is paying to compensate for Civil Rights suits brought on by former police officer Larry Pugh, et al.
In an article titled “Texas Municipal League Gives Jacksonville Excellence In Public Safety Award”…for cities with less than 250,000 population, city leaders accept their award issued by their Insurance Company. Like Allstate sending you a Christmas calendar for not killing someone after driving home drunk from the bar. A way to say "Thanks for not making us pay out so much in claims this year, like we did after you hired a rapist predator to patrol your streets."
(Source: Tyler Paper, “Texas Municipal League Gives Jacksonville Excellence In Public Safety Award” November 5, 2008)
During this time period, the city of Denton, Texas also received the Municipal Excellence Award from the TML for its “going green initiatives.”
Not to be out done, both the Mayor and City Manager help stop a thief on the streets of Jacksonville, according the November 19th issue of the Daily Progress. “The city manager and the mayor were driving in the 400 block of Commerce Street when they noticed a black male juvenile looking in the window of a late-model car parked..." The Jacksonville PD was notified and an arrest was made. The Mayor of Jacksonville stated "it was just a matter of being in the right place at the right time."
“The circumstances that led up to this were purely accidental. We were just minding our own business when we just happened to stumble on a burglary in progress — it was an exciting moment in time,” Haberle said. “I ran as fast as I could, to the point of exhaustion, trying to catch him, and fortunately the police were able to make an arrest.”
The mayor said he is “sick and tired” of crime in Jacksonville.
“I love this town; this is my home. And whether I’m the mayor or just a regular citizen of this city, I will do whatever I can to make this a better place for everybody,” he said.
Everything except resign and/or call on the Texas Attorney General to investigate the rampant corruption stifling the economic potential of the region. When it comes to 'police profiling' these antics are equally preposterous. Lest our readers forget that the nocturnal activities of former Jacksonville police officer Larry Pugh, from 18 months ago, have not been fully investigated. Recruited from the Athens, Texas PD with over 30 prior complaints against him, Officer Pugh hunted down and raped women on the streets of Jacksonville. Missing complainants' remains were found scattered in the Angelina National Forest.
Before choosing which victims he would rape, Officer Pugh most certainly profiled those women. He selected the economically disadvantaged because he knew they could not afford to hire expensive attorneys and their complaints would fall on deaf ears. Officer Larry Pugh would have assumed his department supervisors and the district attorney’s office would willingly turn blind eyes to any and all criminal complaints made against the City of Jacksonville. Especially by victimized women painted as street urchins and whores. Officer Pugh was charged in State court for having inappropriate “sex with an inmate.” He was never charged in Cherokee County for any sex assault offense, despite nine (9) local women filing police reports and eventually a federal class action suit. And now the City of Jacksonville's sole liability insurance provider is giving awards to the city they are settling case after case for.
Profiling in the form of blaming the community’s poor citizens for the illegal activities of the real perpetrators (who have influential cousins with deep pockets in the courthouse) is the Cherokee County Texas norm.
Some readers of the local newspapers preferred to be gulled by the lie that Jacksonville’s police officers do not profile the citizens- that they are there “to protect and serve.” The fact is they protect and serve only those on Cherokee County’s safe from accountability list. The other lie is that those who actively recruited, interviewed, hired and salaried Officer Larry Pugh are now no longer in city/county government. They are still in public service waiting to draw their government pensions. They hired and insured a rapist to patrol the streets of Jacksonville, Texas. This rapist is doing almost 17 years in federal prison thanks to the work of the Department of Justice and one woman coming forward after being attacked twice. This victim filed a successful lawsuit against the city of Jacksonville after she was raped at gun point and then retaliated against for speaking to the FBI. Her harrowing story of being sexually assaulted in a cemetery, then weeks later barely escaping being kidnapped in a van can be read here:
http://cherokeecountytexas.wordpress.com/evelyn-lewis-vs-larry-pugh-the-city-of-jacksonville-tx-et-al/
That is the story the Texas Municipal League and the council of corrupt city governments wants stricken from the minds of taxpayers worried about their rising property taxes.
Source: Evelyn Lewis v. City of Jacksonville, 2007 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 34754 (E. Dist Texas 2007)
and Sandra Rene Roca, Tonya Burns, Debra A Williams, Felicia A Colbert, Della Tyler, Wanda Wilson and Felicia Mosley v . Larry Pugh, the city of Jacksonville, Texas et al, No. 6:2007cv-00081 (US Dist. Ct., E.D. Texas, Tyler Division, February 15, 2007).
Still love your city, Mayor?
Lap dog reporting of fake and asinine awards is intended to aid the current Jacksonville Texas Police Chief, the city of Jacksonville and Cherokee County in general in the ongoing effort of ‘Project Got To Fool ‘Em Everyday.’ With the help of local news agencies, the goal of county authorities is to never be held accountable to those filing legitimate federal lawsuits against the city’s police department personnel for heinous negligence, rapes and drug dealing.
Their political agenda is to manipulate the media and their readers who plausibly may be called for Federal jury duty in Cherokee and Smith counties, as the City of Jacksonville is sued out of existence. Call it premeditated and premature jury tampering.
The Texas Municipal League insures police departments and their specialty is at risk liability. Any insurance provider would have a vested interest in not having to pay out the wazoo. Especially if local jurors find city and county officials culpable for the illegal and negligent actions of its employees. Fortunately for the TML, they have willing accomplices working in the East Texas news rooms.
