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)

Paroled drug snitch holds family hostage; Jacksonville Police Chief steps down

 

Jacksonville, TX 5/24/24- absconding parolee Justin Ray processed for the 23rd time after charges dropped by sympathetic prosecutors. (Courtesy CCSO)

369th District Court, Cherokee County, Texas
Criminal Docket Case 22515 EVADING ARREST/ DETENTION W/VEHICLE
THE STATE OF TEXAS vs RAY, JUSTIN ODELL
Filed 08/28/2023 - Disposition: 05/28/2024 Dismissed-insufficient evidence
 

Career criminals avoid prosecution by working with Cherokee County narcotics enforcement.

Drug dealers and habitual thieves have their parole violation warrants dismissed after pulling guns, assaulting victims, and running from arresting officers. It's a game of cat-and-mouse. By giving up their fellow meth users, they avoid Unlawful Possession of a Firearm by a Felon charges and have state jail felonies dismissed despite prior convictions. Of course they escalate their drug use and always reoffend while they're out on bail. Law enforcement who release them believe the public is too stupid to figure out what is going on.

Justin Ray, Jacksonville TX busted 8/24/2022

Justin Odell Ray, 32, of Jacksonville, TX was arrested for the umpteenth time for holding a gun on a group of people during a crystal meth binge. East Texas media incredulously reports Ray's in-and-out parole journey beginning early this year in Cherokee County. In March, Justin Ray had a parole violation warrant issued for drug possession charges; he was arrested by Jacksonville PD and released without a parole hearing.

Justin Ray, busted 6/2/2022

In June, Justin Ray was charged with assault and evading arrest, and again released. In August this year, the Texas Pardon and Parole issued another warrant for Ray's arrest, which led a few days later to a foot chase with local SWAT. Ray had pulled a gun and threatened to kill some folks in the interim.  (Source: East Texas man arrested, accused of multiple parole violations, holding family at gun point KETK)

Justin Ray, circa 2007

Criminal Docket; Case 17350 and Case 17351 ; BURGLARY OF HABITATION
THE STATE OF TEXAS vs RAY, JUSTIN ODELL
Filed 12/17/2008 - Disposition: 06/11/2009 Conviction-guilty plea or nolo cont-no jury
2nd District Court, District Clerk, Cherokee County, Texas

Criminal Docket; Case 19183 ; AGG ASSAULT W/DEADLY WEAPON
THE STATE OF TEXAS vs RAY, JUSTIN ODELL
Filed 05/27/2014 - Disposition:
2nd District Court, District Clerk, Cherokee County, Texas

Criminal Docket; Case 19248 ; POSS CS PG 1 <1G
THE STATE OF TEXAS vs RAY, JUSTIN ODELL
Filed 05/27/2014 - Disposition: 03/18/2016 Dismissed-insufficient evidence
2nd District Court, District Clerk, Cherokee County, Texas

 

 Some Jacksonville residents are more valuable on the streets than locked up and rehabilitated.

Justin Ray has been a stoolie for Cherokee County law enforcement for over a decade. Despite being a habitual parole violator, arrest after arrest have led to mediocre bonds and his immediate release. A small fraction of his charges were ever prosecuted. Ray's public rap sheet begins at the age 18 with arrests spanning several counties that include domestic violence on numerous occasions, burglary, assault, theft, drugs, and parole violations.  Who makes the decision to release a violent habitual parole violator back on the streets of Jacksonville to terrorize residents? KETK reports the Texas Pardon and Parole Board dismissed Ray's parole violation warrant back in March after he was charged with possessing and dealing crystal meth.

Texas Pardon and Parole lifted the March 2022 parole warrant for Ray’s arrest, “releasing him back into society.” 

He was found to be in possession of narcotics and ammunition at the time of his arrest, according to officials. (KETK)

In June 2022, Justin Ray was previously arrested by Jacksonville PD and released for:

#1 Evading Arrest or Detention with a Motor Vehicle
#2 Evading Arrest Detention
#3 Assault Causes Bodily Injury
#4 Parole Violation

In a matter of days, he was back out for his latest ASSAULT WITH A DEADLY WEAPON crime spree.

The real question is,  who in Cherokee County pressures the Texas Pardon and Parole to lift warrants for a habitual criminal on parole for AGGRAVATED ASSAULT?

Jacksonville Police Chief Joe Williams

Chief Joe Williams has reportedly taken a few weeks sabbatical after a whistleblower made an anonymous complaint against him. On August 29, 2022, Williams voluntarily took administrative leave as the Jacksonville Police Department's dirty laundry is squelched by "outside" third party resources uninterested in alleged sexual misconduct. (Source: Jacksonville police chief placed on administrative leave following ‘allegation’ -KETK) The shakeup comes on the heels of the high profile Cody Roberts murder trial that resulted in a mistrial in March and a not guilty verdict a week earlier. (Source: Jury finds Cody Roberts not guilty of 2018 murder in Cherokee County - KETK) The trial highlighted the sloppiness of investigators and jurors' disbelief in the State's case.

In house fighting, finger pointing, and political shenanigans are common in small town rumor mills. Hopefully the allegations are not serious enough for any female complainant to be dismembered in some nearby National Forest.

Shunte Coleman, Jacksonville TX

"Forensic pathologist identifies remains of Texas woman missing since 2006" (Wikipedia)

The skeletal remains of Shunte Coleman, a missing person since 2006, have reportedly been found near the Angelina National Forest in the US state of Texas. On Friday, the San Augustine, Texas sherriff's department announced remains found in San Augustine by a forester earlier this year are a DNA match for Coleman.

A forensic anthropologist from Sam Houston State University assisted with the investigation and determined the findings matched Jacksonville resident Coleman.

In 2006 Coleman's family said the 26-year-old Shunte was likely dead. Connections were drawn between Coleman and Jacksonville Police Officer Larry Pugh, who was later sentenced in March 2007 to a twelve-year jail term for sex assault while on duty and retaliation against a witness.

Report: Murdered Jacksonville, Texas woman was to testify against cop

Shunte Coleman (Courtesy CBS News, August 24, 2014)

Jacksonville, TX:

Authorities say they are treating the death of a Jacksonville, Texas woman whose remains were found earlier this year as a murder investigation, reports CBS affiliate KYTX.
Before her disappearance eight years ago, 26-year-old Shunte Coleman was expected to testify against Jacksonville police officer Larry Pugh, who was being investigated on sexual assault charges.





Police said they aren't ruling out Pugh as a potential suspect.
Coleman's remains were found in March, in a wooded area of San Augustine County, not far from where the body of another woman, Terri Reyes, was found in 2007.





Reyes was also expected to testify against Pugh. He was sentenced in 2007 to 12 years in prison for rape and other charges.



Courtesy Tyler Morning Telegraph, June 14, 2014

The remains of a woman who disappeared eight years ago after making outcries of sexual abuse against a former Jacksonville police officer have been found, officials reported on Friday.
Skeletal remains of Shunte M. Coleman, who was last seen July 3, 2006, were found on March 12 by a forester in a thickly wooded area in San Augustine County, east of the "T" intersection of Farm-to-Market Road 1196 and County Road 347, officials said Friday in a news release.

In 2007, Alvin Boykin talked to the Tyler Morning Telegraph about the day his friend, Ms. Coleman, left his Jacksonville home on foot. He said then that his home was an ad hoc shelter, offered to anyone needing a place to stay.

Ms. Coleman, a mother of two, had freely come and gone from his residence — but so had a handful of other women needing a boost. So when Ms. Coleman said she was leaving for a while, Boykin watched her go.

She didn't come back. Neither did another frequenter, Terri Renee Troublefield Reyes, who disappeared around the same time as Ms. Coleman. The 38-year-old Athens woman was last seen alive on May 21, 2006, and was found dead and unclothed in Angelina National Forest in fall 2006.
The women knew each other from Boykin's home, and both were pinpointed as potential witnesses to testify against former Jacksonville police officer Larry Pugh.

In 2006, Pugh was sentenced to 12 years in prison for the sexual assault of women while on duty and retaliating against a woman for reporting the crime.

Ms. Coleman and Ms. Reyes both went missing while Pugh was out of jail on bond — between February 2006 and August 2006.

In 2007, Pugh pleaded guilty to perjury for lying about sexually assaulting women while on duty. The next year, he was sentenced to 18 months for perjury. He was sued in two additional lawsuits by eight women claiming they also were sexually assaulted by him while he was an officer.
According to the Federal Bureau of Prisons, Pugh, 41, is incarcerated in Marianna, Florida, in a medium-security federal correctional institution with an adjacent minimum security satellite camp. His release date is listed as May 13, 2018.

Shortly after Ms. Reyes' remains were identified through DNA testing in 2007, attorney Curtis Stuckey told the Tyler Morning Telegraph that he might have used Ms. Reyes as a witness in the civil trial, but he never had an opportunity to talk to her because she disappeared.

"She had made an outcry" to law enforcement, like several other women, he said.
Stuckey represented a 43-year-old Jacksonville woman who was raped and retaliated against by Pugh in a civil lawsuit against the former officer.

Stuckey said he also would have been interested in talking to Ms. Coleman as a possible witness against Pugh if she had not disappeared.

San Augustine Sheriff's Office Chief Deputy Gary Cunningham said Friday that at this point, law enforcement cannot connect Pugh to Ms. Coleman's disappearance and death, but officials are not ruling out any potential suspects.

He said an active investigation is being continued by the San Augustine County Sheriff's Office, the Texas Rangers and the FBI.

The San Augustine County Sheriff's Office, with assistance from the Angelina County Sheriff's Office, the Texas Rangers and the FBI, recovered the remains, which were examined by a forensic anthropologist at Sam Houston State University and then delivered to the University of North Texas Center for Human Identification, where DNA extracted from the remains were entered into the Combined DNA Index System (CODIS), officials said.

On Thursday, the San Augustine County Sheriff's Office and the Jacksonville Police Department were notified that the remains belonged to Ms. Coleman.
The woman who won the civil lawsuit against Pugh in 2007 testified in federal court that she was walking one night in March 2005 when Pugh offered her a courtesy ride in his police car. Instead of taking her where she wanted to go, he took her to a dark, empty trailer house.
"He raped me," she said crying. "I was too scared to do anything."
She said Pugh drove her back to the neighborhood and dropped her off.

In August 2006, after Pugh had been indicted on federal charges, the woman was again walking at night when a man in a van who was wearing sunglasses approached and offered her a ride. She said she recognized Pugh's voice and declined.

As she walked away, Pugh got out of the vehicle and took his belt off. The two struggled and the victim tried to fight him, but he put his belt around her neck, she said. Pugh began dragging her toward his van and "by the grace of God," the belt snapped and she escaped.
The woman admitted she had a criminal record and was fighting a crack addiction, she said.
Pugh pleaded guilty to the charges but denied ever having sex with her or any of the other women.
Joe Evans, an investigator for the Cherokee County District Attorney's Office, testified at the time that the plaintiff was the first of many women who made outcries claiming they were sexually assaulted by Pugh.

Evans said he talked to 25 to 30 witnesses, including women who claimed they had been raped by Pugh and people they had told, including ministers and police officers, who substantiated their claims. He said the witnesses were from Athens, Tyler and other areas.
Evans said Pugh preyed on vulnerable women who lived on the street and had drug or legal problems. One-third of them had pending charges, one-third of them were on parole or probation and one-third of them had no criminal charges, he said.


(Courtesy KLTV)

Questions still loom for the grandmother of a woman's remains found in E Texas 
June 21, 2014

Tyler, TX:

The grandmother of an East Texas woman whose body was identified Friday says she always feared the worst had happened to her granddaughter. Shunte Coleman went missing in July of 2006. In March, skeletal remains found in San Augustine County were confirmed to be Shunte Coleman.
Shunte’s grandmother says almost eight years later, the family's questions still haven't been answered. Pictures of Shunte fill the walls of Margaret Anderson’s home.

"She was a very charming person, a good-hearted person. Most of all, Shunte loved to discuss the bible,” said Anderson.

Just two days before Anderson learned Shunte was missing, she says Shunte called her.
"She wanted to go to put some flowers on her mother's grave. [She asked if I would] go with her and I told her yes. I never heard from her since,” she said.

Anderson says she always knew something bad had happened to her beloved granddaughter.
"I didn't have hope. I knew after a few months. I felt like she was gone. I felt like I would have heard from Shunte, one way or another, if she was alive,” said Anderson.

When she heard that remains found in March had been identified as Shunte, she says she felt her prayers had been answered.

"Wednesday, that was the last thing I asked of God, to reveal what had happened to Shunte,” she said.
Although she finally knows Shunte is gone, Anderson says she still has so many questions.
"Of course I don't know how she died, what she went through with this death. I don't know that, but I know now she is really gone and there is no coming back," she said.

Blaming the Victims. Murder trials postponed to showboat March primaries. Where shady dog kin lie.

Sardis, TX:

Cherokee County, Texas and others have smeared another homicide victim at the hands of Cherokee County deputies. Namely former Lufkin detective Allen Wallace who was gunned down over his mother’s grave in Sardis, TX in September 2007. Police blog sites describe Wallace as 'unstable' in an article sent in and titled “Cherokee County (Texas) Deputies Shoot and Kill Nutcase Former Lufkin Police Officer Allen Lee Wallace over his Mother’s Grave" Typical Cherokee County, TX propaganda; Mr. Wallace was not a “nutcase.” The above mentioned article cites that in 2000 the retired detective had a verbal confrontation with a home builder that was investigated by authorities. However it does not cite the fact that the contractor Wallace was accused of threatening, according to Angelina County district attorney investigator Ron Brandon, was sentenced in 2002 on deceptive practices charges and placed on 10 years probation for mishandling Wallace’s construction account.

Friends and loved ones of the Allen “Stinger” Wallace family also paint a different picture of the gunned down retiree, suicided at the hands of Cherokee County, TX deputies. This is what is called playing both sides of the fence: passing the case onto the Texas Rangers for a verifiable examination of the shooting, yet smearing the deceased as a “nutcase.”

Similarly, in 2005 Jacksonville, TX resident Jennifer Hester was described as “drunk and passed out in her apartment complex parking lot” after a night of “celebration” after graduating from nursing school. She was struck by a vehicle and killed steps from her front door, the driver No-Billed by a Cherokee County Texas grand jury and the homicide investigation potted. Shows you how easy it is to get off when you’re related to the right people in Cherokee County, TX. If the driver of the vehicle had, let’s say, run over an actual transient drunk sleeping under a bridge in Dallas County, then certainly charges would have been levied: involuntary manslaughter.

Former Jacksonville, TX police officer Larry Pugh’s rape victims were also portrayed as homeless drug addicts by the media. No inquest needed for their timely disappearances in the Angelina National Forest prior to Pugh’s federal trial.

Convicted Jacksonville, TX police officer Larry Pugh

Apparently it’s easier to smear victims in the media than it is to follow the letter of law.

Anderson and Cherokee County, hand-in-hand and out of sync with the rest of the region, will be losing out in $50,000 federal grant monies to its Rape Crisis Centers due to an “error on the application.” The Crisis Center of Anderson and Cherokee Counties was seeking extra funding made available for peripheral expenditures for state operated rape centers. The same centers had their state funding completely cut earlier this year. By losing the funding, these local crisis centers can return to not being able to collect a local rapist cop's DNA, while their compromising policies and procedures remain hidden from government oversight. Losing all state and federal funding is nothing to be proud of. Articles posted on the same day show that Cherokee County, TX is more interested in its stray dog problem, than with funding for female victims of sexual assault.
That is of course if the problem is illegal dog fighting or killing neighbor's cats, then the Cherokee County Texas county attorney and sheriff can ignore the problem and reassert PETA's position that Cherokee County's Project Got to Fool 'Em Everyday (when your relatives get caught) is hiding behind fictitious legal statutes. Excuses excuses.

Rusk, Texas: 42-year-old Gordon Mathis sentenced to 8 years in federal prison for child porn in Tyler’s federal district court.

Gilmer, Texas: Upshur County Sheriff’s Deputy Richard Louis Bridgewater, 29 from Big Sandy, has been charged with child indecency after an 11-year-old female came forward with allegations that the deputy had inappropriate contact with her multiple times at his home. Deputy Bridgewater admitted to the charges during an interview with the Texas Rangers. The molestation had been going on for over a year.

Palestine, Texas: Owners of the fraudulent oil and gas investment scheme Caddo Creek Productions, Inc. were sentenced December 7, 2007 in federal court. Donald and Cheryl Douglas of Palestine, TX have to pay over $1 million in restitution to the victims they defrauded. Mr. Douglas faces over 3 years in federal prison; Mrs. Douglas was sentenced to 5 years probation. The Palestine, TX couple conned East Texas investors by claiming non-existent oil and gas drilling production and leases in the area, but used the money for personal expenditures. Mr. Douglas had been indicted on State charges in Anderson County, TX.

Jacksonville, Texas: Just in the nick of time, another murder trial for the Cherokee County District Attorney to champion, Bernie Lucas, 52, held police at bay during an hour-long standoff at his Jacksonville, TX home in October 2007. Lucas will be on trial for the murder of 43-year-old Shelia Gray, also of Jacksonville, who was found shot to death during the standoff.
Still no murder investigation into the missing federal witnesses against ex-Jacksonville, TX police officer and convicted rapist Larry Pugh, nor the witness’ remains found in the Angelina National Forest.

Terri Reyes (l) and Shunte Coleman (r) missing Cherokee Co. TX residents.

However a December 1, 2007 article in the Tyler Morning Telegraph shows that other state agencies are quick to charge potential murderers after the disappearance of citizens, even without a body covered in DNA. People go missing, suspects are arrested, and that is in counties other than Cherokee County, Texas. Prosecution witnesses go missing before a decorated Jacksonville, TX police officer’s federal trial; instead they are reported as homeless drug addicts that deserved the euthanasia.

Rusk, TX: For December 2007, it is again reported that convicted murderers Buenka Adams and Richard Cobb had their appeals rejected, to keep the trial fresh on the minds of those voting in the Cherokee County primaries (and to make it appear Cherokee County tried more than 1 murder case in the last 3 years)
The Tyler Morning Telegraph : reports in December 2007 the same thing that was reported in June 2007: death row inmates Adams and Cobb have lost their appeals. Nothing has changed since then; no federal appeals on the horizon for Richard Cobb. So the Tyler, TX news agencies get a quick blurb to go over the same Cherokee County trial that took place 4 years ago? The article reports, without a timeline or date, that Adams and Cobb lost their appeals in the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals. Adams was denied a writ of habeas corpus that his attorneys filed in November 2007.

Cherokee County Texas media reported in June 2007 that both Adams and Cobb lost their direct appeals in the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals. The end. So every 3 months up to March primaries, reports of the same rejected appeals to give the impression the Cherokee County TX district attorney’s office is hard at work? The point is Buenka Adams and Richard Cobb's latest appeal was lost in June 2007. No date of the rejection is provided by staff writers of this article that is reprinted every time they are told to.

The fact is Texas death row inmates Beunka Adams and Richard Cobb really lost their last appeal 6 months ago and have been sentenced to death. Their execution dates have not been set yet. Both Richard Cobb and Beunka Adams have depravity points of 21 according to the American Judicature Society and certainly deserve to die by lethal injection. So report that when it happens.
The murder rate in Cherokee County, TX unfortunately for those seeking "victim's rights awards" is 1000% lower than neighboring counties. 1 murder reported in 2004 and ZERO homicides reported in 2005 according to City Data.

death row inmate Beunka Adams

Beunka Adams and Richard Cobb were convicted of robbing a Rusk, TX convenience store, kidnapping and assaulting two female employees, then murdering a third male hostage.
The above-mentioned trial of Beunka Adams and Richard Cobb took place in 2004. An Anderson County jury sentenced Adams after a change of venue sent the final phase of the trail to Cherokee County's sister jurisdiction.

In October 2004, the now defunct Dogwoods Trail Narcotics Task Force indiscriminately arrested 72 Anderson County, TX residents during the failed crystal meth roundup of the century. Same Tulia tactics used, resulting in the shooting of an unarmed black man wanted on an unrelated though outstanding marijuana arrest warrant. If defendants are black or indigent, no evidence needs to be reviewed by Cherokee County or Anderson County juries; they are presumed guilty. It's the "hang 'em high" mentality that can't be shaken easily after decades of corruption and racism ingrained in the region. And rest assured, these innocent people’s appeals never make it to local papers. Only when appeals are favorable to incumbents, are they reported ad nauseum. If the district judge makes a 'judicial error' then the case itself will not be published by the 12th Court of Appeals and the precedent hidden from legal research. And let's be honest here: East Texas prosecutors don't have to prove anything when the jury is stacked with kith and kin.

Cherokee County, TX has not had a murder trial to grandstand since the Beunka Adams/Richard Cobb sentencing. Michael Harris of Jacksonville was given a plea deal after killing his ex-wife because his bail was set repeatedly for the same offense, the driver of the pickup that struck and killed Jennifer Hester also of Jacksonville was given a No-Bill, and Jacksonville, TX police officer Larry Pugh was only given 12 years concurrent state time on top of his 12+ federal years for rape and retaliation. Murders and homicides have taken place in Cherokee County since the Buenka Adams/Richard Cobb trial; however they are neither reported nor make it to a judicial hearing. But Cherokee County is gearing up another 'once in a lifetime' murder trial to make waves and the headlines with Bernie Lucas at the helm. And each step of the appeal process will be repeatedly reported as if it just occurred. To make it look it like everybody at the Cherokee County Texas courthouse is busy. Busy as cats in a litter box.

Rusk, Texas: In a county of less than 50,000, the reports on the Cherokee County, TX county attorney’s office is that the staff is ‘overwhelmed with case loads’ and had to hire an assistant county attorney. The article cites the multitude of Child Protective Services’ citations and Crisis Center protective orders being issued throughout the county. A good decision to hire an outsider to handle cases, this way Cherokee County judges can avoid being reprimanded for backlogging the local docket as they pursue their side jobs as visiting judges in other counties, you know, clearing mental health commitments out of their jurisdiction. Does the backlog of cases for the Cherokee County's county attorney include the arrests made by convicted rapist and ex-patrolman Larry Pugh’s?

Last year, there was enough time for Craig Caldwell’s office to try Larry Hinton of Jacksonville, TX with misdemeanor charges of “interfering with Larry Pugh’s police investigation,” even though the charge is a felony. Hinton was acquitted in county court and settled with the city of Jacksonville, TX on Larry Pugh’s excessive force. Hinton's wife was beaten and tasered during the Tomato Bowl melee and Hinton's teeth kicked in during Pugh's arrest. The Cherokee County district attorney's office did not get their hands dirty on the Larry Hinton court case; they let Craig Caldwell take the credit.

Upcoming murder trials have been pushed back on the Cherokee County Texas docket, right in time for March’s elections. No real need to go out and buy election signs when incumbents are installed in their positions for life and they run against, well NO ONE. Cherokee County Texas rarely has challengers, even in opposite political parties, for Sheriff, Judge, County Judge and/or District Attorney. However, other neighboring counties actually trying to clean up the corruption in their respective agencies see more names on the ballot. And they don’t use murder victims to ham up the local media.

Henderson, TX: In Rusk County, after episodes of police corruption were exposed in the Rusk Co. Sheriff’s department, retired law enforcement vie for Sheriff of the beleaguered county.
The candidates pledge to clean up Rusk County, Texas after June 2007’s suicide of retiring Lt. Fred Dunlap, investigator Michael Davis’ insurance fraud conviction and Deputy Kenneth Martin’s child porn possession. In May 2007, Lt. Johnny Davidson, Jr. and Chief Deputy Dusty Flanagan pleaded guilty to sexual harassment of a female coworker. Current Rusk County Sheriff Glenn Deason has not filed for re-election as of December 2007. The issue of official oppression and political corruption is being openly addressed in the media and amongst voters.

Repetitious reports of the same murder trial that was settled in 2004, as in the Beunka Adams and Richard Cobb death sentence, won’t convince Rusk County, Texas voters to continue with the same old patterns of police misconduct and deceit. So if you are voting in the Cherokee County Texas primaries, make sure you avoid the booths that are serving 'nature's brownies.'
That's the staple of life for the incumbents.

http://www.cherokeecountytexas.blogspot.com