City of Rusk Texas bookkeeper indicted for embezzling $150,000 of government funds; wife of City of Jacksonville Texas Mayor Pro-Tem/ City Councilman

Rusk Texas:

The Cherokeean Herald reports on its online March 12, 2008 issue that Rusk, TX city bookkeeper, Doris Robinson, wife of City of Jacksonville TX councilman and Mayor Pro Tem Hubert Robinson, has been indicted by a Cherokee County TX grand jury for stealing over $150,000 from the Rusk TX water department.

City of Rusk Texas bookkeeper Doris Robinson

Mrs. Doris Robinson worked at Rusk's City Hall located at 408 N MAIN ST as the city Permit and Billing Clerk until she was promoted to City Bookkeeper in February 2006. Prior to taking office the article cites, Doris Robinson allegedly embezzled water department monies over a 2 year period. An unnoticed theft of upwards of $150 thousand in a city with the population of 5000 citizens. The Cherokee County TX grand jury met the second week in March 2008 and Mrs. Robinson's indictment was not reported by the District Attorney's office. The Cherokeean Herald reports it after the go-ahead from the District Attorney.

At printing The Jacksonville Daily Progress also has not printed the fact the wife of the city of Jacksonville's Mayor Pro Tem had been indicted. Councilman Hubert Robinson's wife posted bond on Monday March 10, 2008. Mr. Robinson is an active member of the historical Sweet Union Baptist Church located in Jacksonville Texas.

Councilman Hubert Robinson, Jacksonville TX (District 1)

After one year of misdirections, it is high time a grand jury was seated that was not designed to prolong the case into the millennia. The EDITOR doubts there will ever be a costly and embarrassing embezzlement trial; Doris Robinson will no doubt be granted immunity for spending the last year busily trying to pay back any missing funds, in restitution. Isn't that always the way it always works when Cherokee County's version of Christians get caught with their hands in the taxpayers' coffers?

Alto Texas:
US Postmaster Herbert Michael Dominguez paid back nearly all the $27000 he stole from the post office and for his federal crime, Postmaster Dominguez gets to keep his federal pension if he successfully completes his one year probation sentence. Handed to him in late February 2008 by US District Judge Michael Schneider in Tyler, TX, because Dominguez was "such a good person who had never been in trouble before."

When Cherokee County's version of "dignitaries" commit federal crimes, citizens will only get a glimpse of it in the Tyler TX newspaper 100 miles away.

Rusk TX police officer rapes Rusk ISD student while Alto, TX Postmaster steals $27,000 from local Post Office. Rusk TX teacher indicted on child porn.

Rusk Texas: 
City of Rusk TX police officer, and former Cherokee County Sheriff Department jailer,  Christopher "Chris" Michael Hennessy was handed a 10 year probation sentence by Cherokee County TX District Attorney Elmer C. Beckworth, Jr. in 2004 after Hennessy sexually assaulted a female 15-year-old Rusk ISD student. Officer Hennessy absconded his Sex Offender Registration after later being charged with distribution of crystal meth and unauthorized use of a motor, according to a February 28, 2008 article in the Jacksonville Daily Progress. Rusk TX officer Chris Hennessy was also under investigation by the ATF for possession of explosives.

Officer Christopher Michael Hennessy was apprehended in Houston, TX by the US Marshals Service on Wednesday February 27, 2008. Hennessy had been working in the Houston area under an assumed name.

Cherokee County Texas Criminal Docket; Case 16121:
Indecency/Sexual Assault of Child-Felony THE STATE OF TEXAS vs HENNESSY, CHRISTOPHER MICHAEL Filed 05/23/2005 - Disposition: 11/17/2005 Deferred adjudication 2nd District Court, District Clerk, Cherokee County TX. And Criminal Docket Case 16681; Case 16682 in the 2nd District Court, Cherokee County, TX.

Obviously Hennessy's deferred adjudication wasn't good enough for the rogue officer; deferred adjudication is a plea bargain agreement, as it is defined, that is not an formal guilty plea and is NOT a conviction. The charge remains on the defendant's record, however all licensing, bonding and law enforcement, i.e. political affiliations remain untarnished if probation is served (or reduced by a sympathetic district judge).

Christopher Hennessy (Courtesy DPS)

Hennessy refused his Sex Offender Registration in Cherokee County, TX and violated his slap-on-the-wrist probation. The Cherokee County district judge would have terminated his probation; however Hennessy would have to first register as a Sex Offender. Officer Hennessy was 24 in 2004. Elmer Beckworth believed Officer's Hennessy's reputation was more valuable than the raped 15-year-old Rusk Jr. High student by offering DEFERRED ADJUDICATION probation. Of course, the Cherokee County District Attorney is not held accountable in the local media for any of the COLLATERAL CONSEQUENCES of Chris Hennessy's plea bargain; allowing Hennessy to continue the crystal meth trafficking into Beckworth's hometown, possible bomb making and who knows what else before Officer Hennessy was nabbed by the Gulf Coast Violent Offenders Task Force.  

Alto Texas: US Postmaster Herbert Michael Dominguez located in the tiny Alto, TX post office stole $27,000 worth of postage stamps and federal money orders, converting them into his own personal use. Similarly Dominguez's indictment and crime was not reported by any Cherokee County Texas newspaper. It took the Tyler Texas paper to report the local indictment of Postmaster Dominquez in its February 27, 2008 issue. Dominguez had been being paying most of the stolen money back in restitution. U.S. Federal District Judge Michael Schneider in Tyler TX gave the thieving Postal Service agent 1 year adjudicated probation.



What do these cases have in common? A Rusk TX police officer who molested a Jr. High girl and an unsupervised Postmaster in Alto TX both received deferred adjudicated probation for their crimes, both State and Federal. Both get to keep their TCLEOSE licenses and government pensions. Probation given in order to keep the sordid mess under wraps. Even after raping the coffers and thus taxpayers of their most precious commodity: their children and their privacy.

 Criminal activity within Cherokee County's post offices has been documented for years. In August 1997, DPS officer Joe Don Abernathy was lucky enough to have DWI and unlawful discharge of a weapon charges dismissed after an employee in the Rusk Texas post office smashed his vial of blood on it way to the Garland, TX DPS lab for alcohol tests.


 Aug. 21, 1997 Cherokeean Herald p.1

  
Aug. 21, 1997 Cherokeean Herald p. 10A

A local Rusk TX woman named Linda Lanier had filed a complaint against Trooper Joe Don Abernathy in Feb. 1997 after Abernathy had chased the Lanier family down the back roads of Hwy. 84 in the middle of the night. The complaint stated the off duty trooper had shot at the Lanier family vehicle, on their way back from Boosier City, LA. The Rusk PD arrested Abernathy on U.S. 69 and found rifles, a shotgun and beer cans in Abernathy's pickup. Abernathy requested a blood sample be drawn in lieu of a breathalyzer, and the sample was literally dropped off in the mail. The test tube containing the DUI arrest evidence was destroyed by the Rusk TX Postal Service.

A common tactic observed with the roles have been reversed and a DPS officer cites a Cherokee County deputy for DUI. And of course the Cherokee County TX District Attorney's office never took Abernathy's "deadly conduct" case in front of a grand jury. Trooper Joe Don Abernathy accepted Cherokee County's County Attorney's offer of reckless driving as was placed on minimal adjudicated probation. The horror the Lanier family endured the night of Feb. 9, 1997 has been long forgotten. Trooper Joe Abernathy presently works as a Senior Recruiter for the DPS office in Tyler, TX. In 2012, Trooper Joe Don Abernathy crashed his patrol car after a night of heavy drinking according to the Tyler Paper. The DPS pulled a blood draw showing over an alcohol level of 0.16 which is twice the legal limit. (Courtesy Tyler Paper).

Trooper who said he swerved to avoid a deer arrested for DWI

BY KENNETH DEAN

A former Texas Department of Public Safety trooper, who told his coworkers he wrecked his patrol car earlier this month while trying to avoid a deer, has been arrested for driving while intoxicated and resigned his position as a result of the investigation into the accident. Joe Don Abernathy, 61, turned himself into authorities Monday and posted a $1,000 bond on the misdemeanor charge, according to judicial records.

Abernathy, who reportedly was on his way to work the morning of the accident, wrecked the 2008 Ford Crown Victoria he was assigned about 7:20 a.m. Nov. 5 on County Road 2120, about a half-mile west of County Road 262. According to a DPS accident report, Abernathy said he was driving when a deer ran out in front of him, and he took evasive action to avoid hitting the animal. The Tyler Morning Telegraph asked for video of the deer crossing the road the morning of the accident but was told the DPS video system does not record until the overhead emergency lights have been activated.

The DPS report by Investigator David Anthony shows Abernathy swerved to the right, went off the road, across into oncoming traffic and then back off the right side of the roadway where he struck several trees. According to the arrest affidavit in the case, Abernathy had a strong odor of alcohol on his person. However, because he was injured, Abernathy was taken to Mother Frances Hospital for treatment, where doctors also took his blood for testing. The DPS crash report indicates Abernathy's blood alcohol level was 0.16, which is twice the legal limit.

Smith County District Attorney Matt Bingham said he was notified early in the investigation and told by troopers on the scene that they would be having Abernathy's blood drawn for testing. “DPS has been very cooperative from the onset of the investigation, and they have said they will give my office any and all records with Abernathy. It's very unfortunate that something like this can stain the reputation of all of these troopers, but he will be treated like everyone else,” he said. Bingham said he is looking at a possible earlier incident involving Abernathy where a blood vial had been destroyed. “There was an earlier case involving Abernathy and a blood vial being destroyed somehow, but that was in another county outside Smith County and had nothing to do with the DPS. It was an entirely different agency,” he said.

Tom Vinger, DPS media representative in Austin, said Monday that Abernathy had tendered his resignation the day after the accident earlier this month. Vinger confirmed that Abernathy was en route to work when the accident occurred. Vinger would not say what Abernathy's position at the Tyler DPS was before the accident or whether he was a patrol trooper or assigned to a desk.

Bingham said troopers worked Abernathy's case like a felony case instead of a misdemeanor. “They did a full traffic reconstruction with their crew, which is usually only for fatalities and felony cases, so DPS went above what they usually do for a misdemeanor. He will be treated like anyone else in this case, because there is no special treatment,” he said.

 DPS Trooper Joe Don Abernathy  

Rusk, TX: The personal use of public works by those assigned to protect and serve Cherokee County Texas has been covered up for decades. In a 1995 Cherokeean Herald article, Cherokee County Sheriff James Campbell denied his deputies partake in monitoring and recording inmates' jailhouse pay phone calls. Complete with an incredulous and concocted story on fictitious inmates crank calling witnesses from their cellblocks.

June 1, 1995 Cherokeean Herald p.1

Houston Chronicle article on jailhouse eavesdropping:

Jan. 5, 2002 Houston Chronicle article from the AP highlights the State's TDCJ policy of listening in and recording all jail inmates' conversations, as a required duty performed by all Texas penal systems -and those like Sheriff James Campbell who are charged with doing so. In 1998 the TDCJ policy altered to allow privacy between inmates' phone calls and their attorney-client privileges. That policy has certainly been ignored by the Cherokee County Sheriff Department and District Attorney's office.  Cherokee County  also tells its citizens the Sheriff Department does not record its DETCOG established 911 calls either.

 

 Jan. 5, 2002 Houston Chronicle p.39A

The June 5, 1995 Cherokeean article citing the "telephone harassment" of bored Cherokee County inmates and how the poor Sheriff can't "listen in" and put a stop to it - why that is a sharp contrast to the 12th Court of Appeals affirmation of one inmate's recent threatening phone call to his wife. The case Kevin Wade Conner v. The State of Texas--Appeal from County Court at Law of Cherokee County was heard in Tyler on February 29, 2008 based upon the  'Dial H for Harassment'  scenario that actually took place.  

Kevin Conner was arrested in 2006 for public intoxication and during his one phone call to his wife, threatened to beat her up. Conner was subsequently charged with telephone harassment and the audio tape recorded phone conversation admitted into evidence at his trial, Cherokee County Court at Law (trial court case # 45,593). Kevin Conner's attorney filed an appeal in Tyler, refer to Case # 12-06-00311-CR, filed on 8/26/2006 in the 12th Court of Appeals, challenging the legality of tape recording the plaintiff's phone call and admitting it into evidence.  The opinion states:

"The erroneous admission of the recording in question is nonconstitutional error. See King, 953 S.W.2d at 271. "Nonconstitutional" error that does not affect the substantial rights of the defendant must be disregarded. TEX. R. APP. P. 44.2(b). Such an error does not warrant reversal unless it had a substantial and injurious effect or influence in determining the jury’s verdict. See King, 953 S.W.2d at 271."

Note the Justices' made up word "Non-constitutional" that applies to Cherokee County phone tapping.

The 12th Court of Appeals doesn't get into the messy legality question as to whether it is legal or unconstitutional (nonconstitutional error / admission of egregious evidence, i.e. illegally gained evidence) to record jailhouse phone conversations. The deputy testified he "overheard" the threats that were decided not to be just "hearsay."  And the Texas penal system allows jails to monitor the inmate accessible pay phones. That was good enough to admit the audio recording into evidence and convict Kevin Conner with "telephone harassment" based on the testimony of an eavesdropping deputy.

Even though Sheriff James Campbell told the local newspapers in 1995 that the "law prohibits my deputies to listen in on" jailhouse phone calls. The Appellate Court says in 2008 recording and monitoring the Cherokee County Sheriff Department's phone calls are "pursuant to the jail’s standard policy, the call was recorded without notice to either Appellant [Kevin Conner] or Conner [his wife]."

 

June 1, 1995 Cherokeean Herald p.1

Wiretaps in the Liberty County TX courthouse, circa 2001:

Similarly, in 2001 Liberty County Texas Constable Craig Houghton  and Liberty Courthouse maintenance chief Thomas Neal Williford pleaded guilty to illegally wiretapping the courthouse telephones. County Commissioner Pct. 4  Toby Wilburn allegedly provided recording devices for Williford, et al to place on the phone lines of political adversaries within the courthouse.

Constable Craig Houghton and Thomas Williford both were sent to 3 months in prison, and Commissioner Wilburn was acquitted in Nov. 2001 on wiretapping. Commissioner Wilburn claimed Constable Houghton had obtained a warrant from the court; the local jury bought the explanation of providing the phone surveillance equipment. Despite the fact that only the Department of Public Safety, the Texas Rangers and the FBI are the only entities that can legally monitor phone lines.

Prisons and jails are required to monitor inmates' calls and terminate the surveillance during conversations with their attorneys. Constable Houghton and Thomas Williford were sentenced to 3 months federal prison and 2 years probation according to the Houston Chronicle. Both claimed the illegal phone taps were installed to "rid the courthouse of theft and corruption."  

Rusk Texas:

Longtime Rusk Texas ISD drama teacher Harold Earl “Bo” Scallon was indicted by a Federal grand jury in Tyler on Tuesday March 4, 2008 for possession and distribution of child pornography. The FBI raided the home of Harold Scallon in Jacksonville in July 2007 on a federal warrant based on a tip and ongoing investigation by the Longview TX police department. Scallon’s computer was seized, and alleged to contain illegal images of children engaged in sex. The Rusk Texas drama coach faces 20 years federal prison and fines for each count of distribution of child porn.

 
Rusk Texas teacher H.E. "Bo" Scallon

According to a March 5, 2008 Tyler Paper article, federal prosecutors and the Rusk ISD superintendent's office refused to acknowledge that Harold "Bo" Scallon was employed in the drama department up until the time he was indicted in federal court for possession and distribution of child pornography. Local newspaper deliberately refer to the theater teacher as "former" and "EX-teacher" even though Harold Scallon never formerly retired from the Rusk Texas school district. Conflicting dates of the alleged cyber crime are being reported. 2007 Rusk ISD Valedictorian Kinsey Gresham acknowledged Mr. Scallon's presence in his students' and fellow faculty members'  lives during her June 2007 graduation speech. "Bo" Scallon had worked over 30 years for the Rusk Texas Independent School District. He also monitored the Rusk Youth Center Swimming Pool with Sheriff James Campbell and others.

 

In March 2007 another Rusk Texas and former Jacksonville ISD teacher, Social Studies' Brian Edward Basse, was indicted for indecency with a minor, i.e. one of his 16-year old students. (KLTV) Basse was sentenced to 3 years in prison for indecency with a child and the illegal student/teacher relationship (Daily Progress). He is a lifetime registered sex offender.

 
Brian Basse, courtsey DPS

Out of county company representatives and those seeking open-records in the Cherokee County Texas courthouse may have experienced the frequent violation of the Texas Public Information Act. That is those requesting court records having to sign waivers or being asked for their own personal information before the court employee provides the requested documents. An article in the Dec. 30, 2002 Houston Chronicle titled "East Texas public data often elusive" shows East Texas law agencies were the least helpful and most confrontational when it came to providing citizens access to open records.

County governments out of a 14 county survey conducted over a 4 month period in 2002, where shown to be cooperative in complying with the State's open records laws. However, East Texas sheriff or police departments "resisted producing records 68% of the time" and complied with the State's timeline for requests only 38% of the time. One researcher from the journalism department of UT Tyler was told she had to "earn the right to see documents see requested." This is, unfortunately, the majority mindset of East Texan law enforcement. The Public Information Act states that any and all information regarding an arrest record and the name of the complainant are to be made available to the inquiring public. Texas law enforcement records are not exempt from public disclosure. Nor are property records at the Cherokee County courthouse.




Companies contemplating setting up operations in greater East Texas should consider the light sentencing for sexual assault of a minor by police officers, embezzlement of postal services and city government funds, road rage by a repeat drunken veteran DPS officer and the bonafide illegal wiretapping of constables and commissioners. The articles may be hidden in the news archives and the back of the minds of the residents; however they are the forefront of daily operations in Counties steeped in corruption.

The disparate sentencing of minorities versus law enforcement caught red-handed and judgments against national companies should be thoroughly investigated by any business testing the job market in Cherokee County Texas. Company business calls will be intercepted, company mail rifled through by post office employees, their profits stolen via lawsuits and most importantly their children will be at risk from Cherokee County's Rogues Gallery of child molesters enjoying their commuted probation.

As an April 29, 2007 Houston Chronicle article published by the Seattle Post titled "Civil Rights investigations decline as focus for FBI" states: for federal agencies keeping watch over rogue police officers, there has been in the last 5 years a 2/3rds drop in investigations of abusive police officers and hate crime purveyors. "You're going to have officers getting away with, in some cases, literally murder." Especially in East Texas where victims are portrayed as "nutcases" and/or transient drug addicts by the local media. And their stories buried with their remains in a nearby National Forest.

District Attorney gives probation to Rusk, TX infant molester; Jacksonville companies leave county’s slip-and-fall Free For All

plea-bargain (v.) :
To make an agreement in which a defendant pleads guilty to a lesser charge and the prosecutor in return drops more serious charges.

plea-bargain "Cherokee County Texas style" (n.) :
A deal struck with a court-appointed defense attorney in which a defendant pleads guilty to a more serious charge and the prosecutor offers adjudicated probation.

Rusk, TX:
In 2006 the Cherokee County District Attorney's office offered a plea bargain deal of probation to a Rusk, TX resident after his arrest for molesting a 1-year-old baby girl.
Kenneth Dexter Folmar, age 45, accepted 96 months deferred probation in 2006 for the Felony sexual assault of the female infant. Refer to Cherokee County, TX Criminal Docket case 16209 (2006) State v. Kenneth Dexter Folmar, 2nd Judicial District.

Folmar continues his employment in neighboring Anderson County. The Cherokeean Herald ran the picture of the Rusk, TX registered sex offender Kenneth Folmar in their August 2007 local sex offender update. However, because Kenneth Folmar is related to too many people operating the Rusk, TX courthouse, the actual molestation was never reported by the local media. And of course Elmer Beckworth's plea offer of 8 years probation was not reported either.

The question is why are convicted child molesters in Cherokee County, whose victims are younger than 6 years-old, being put on probation? And their crimes not reported?

Because it is more efficacious for the Cherokee County District Attorney's office and local media to protect the extended family members of the offender from embarrassment than it is to protect the community. Perpetuating the psychotic paranoid small town mentality by covering up the incest.

There are 79 registered sex offenders residing in Cherokee County, Texas according to a 8/15/07 Cherokeean Herald posting. In a 1/24/07 Cherokeean Herald article, the Cherokee County Sheriff's Department released the names of the registered sex offenders living in the county.

As a 'public service,' local Cherokee County newspapers refuse to print the ages of the victims under 16 years-old. Nor the fact that EVERY offender on the local offenders list who was arrested by the Cherokee County Sheriff Department were on superficial probation and their 2nd degree Felony jail sentences suspended by District Attorney Elmer Beckworth- putting the county at risk.

The Cherokeean Herald's policy is not to print the ages of local victms in cases incest, to keep their identities hidden from ostracism and ridicule. In 2003, the Lufkin Daily News was smart enough to print the names and addresses of all registered sexual offenders in the area, including the ages of victims, charges and date of judgment.

The Sheriff Department pretends to be doing the community a service by notifying the public (on a slow news day) of the identity of local child molesters. However, the offer of probation for the violent rape of a small child tells the true story of the criminal justice system operating in Cherokee County Texas. Especially when defendants are related to members of law enforcement, attorneys and clerks employed at the Rusk, Texas courthouse. They want to keep the high incident of East Texas incest under the radar because of their "vested interest in their little communities." So the district attorney gives probation to Kenneth Folmar of Rusk, Texas for sexual assault of a 12 month old. Molesting a defenseless infant must not be that big of a deal for Cherokee County's District Attorney.

Kenneth Dexter Folmar

Similary, Rusk Texas native, dairy hand and registered child molester James Christopher Schlater, age 51, was given deferred adjudication in 2007 after violating a local 6-year-old girl back in 2004. Refer to State v. James Christopher Schlater (2006) Cherokee County, Texas Criminal Docket Case No. 16630.

James Schlater had originally been charged with Felony sexual assault child, according to Cherokee County, Texas Criminal Docket Case No. 15724, State v. James Christopher Schlater (2007). The incident was never reported and of course his picture is not available because Cherokee County has not verified his current sex offense registration.

James Earl Holt, age 52, Jacksonville Texas given 6 years probation in 2007 for the 2003 assault of a 14 year-old girl. Also never reported.
No picture available.

Donald Wayne Thurmon, age 40 from Jacksonville Texas given 10 years probation in 2007 by District Attorney Elmer Beckworth for possessing and distributing child pornography. No need to call the feds in on this one; why waste their time even though it is a federal offense?

Donald Thurman

Manuel Enrique Huerta, age 21, given 10 years probation in 2007 for sexual assault of a 13 year-old Jacksonville Texas girl.
No picture available.

Cody Allen Whiteley, age 22 of Jacksonville, arrested in Cherokee County in 2006 and pled 7 years probation for the sexual assault of a 13 year-old girl.


Cody Whiteley

Bobby Ray Vines, Jr. age 41 from Jacksonville Texas. Given only 4 years probation for the sexual assault of an 11 year-old female in 2001.

Bobby Vines, Jr.

Ollie Ray Grogan, 65 year-old Rusk Texas native given 10 years probation for 2 counts of molestation of a 5 year-old and an 8 year-old.

Ollie Ray Grogan

Dale Joseph Tylich 65 year-old Rusk Texas equestrian given 6 months probation by Cherokee County for sexual contact with a child. 6 Months because he related to just about everybody in town.

Dale J. Tylich

Marin Otis Pitts, age 54, Troup Texas. Arrested by Cherokee County Texas authorities in 1991 and given 10 years probation for 2 counts of sexual assault on a 7 year-old girl.

Martin Pitts

Chenney LaVaughn Carter, age 43 in Troup, Texas. Arrested in 2006 for aggravated sexual assault of a child. The victim was a 15 year-old girl. Elmer Beckworth's office offered Carter 10 YRS DEFERRED ADJUDICATION PROBATION, despite Chenney Carter's local and Smith County priors.

Cheney L. Carter

Joyal Lee Lackey, age 63 Jacksonville Texas, given 10 years probation in 2005 for Indecency and Sexual Assault of a 13 year-old girl.


Joyal "Muggs" Lackey


Robert Michael Lane, age 36, Jacksonville Texas; offered 10 years probation in 1993 for the sexual assault of a 10 year-old girl. Lane was sent to Bootcamp for 90 days according to the DPS registry and the Cherokee County Court Docket records, Case 11818 State v. Robert M. Lane; Felony-Indecency/Sexual Assault of child-Filed 02/11/1992 - Disposition: 04/16/1993 Conviction-guilty plea or nolo cont-no jury, in the 2nd District Court, Cherokee County TX.

Robert Lane

Guadalupe Lora Vera Lara, age 56, given a paltry 5 years probation in 1996 for having sexual contact with 2 Jacksonville Texas girls, one 11 years-old, the other 13 years-old. No picture available.

Patrick Brian Norsworthy age 45, from Jacksonville Texas. Arrested in 1994 for Indecency with an 8 year-old girl. Given 10 years probation in 1999.

Patrick Norsworthy

Kevin Wayne Patton local businessman, age 40 from Jacksonville, Texas. Given 10 years probation for Indecency with a 14 year-old girl. No picture available.

Robby Lee Buffalo , age 35 Jacksonville, Texas was arrested in 1995 by Cherokee County and a 10 year probation deal accepted in 1999 for sexual assault of a local 11 year-old female.

Robby Buffalo

Donnie Wayne Crippen , age 39 Rusk, Texas. Arrested in Cherokee County in 2006 and given 5 years unadjudicated probation by Elmer Beckworth's office for the sexual assault of a 16 year-old female.

Donnie Crippen

Jose Ramon Galan, age 53 Jacksonville, Texas given 10 years probation in 1998 by Cherokee County after molesting a 9 year-old girl.

Jose Galan

Nicholas "Nicky" Noel Harwell, age 33 Jacksonville, Texas, given 10 years probation in 2003 by Cherokee County Texas prosecutors for 2 counts of sexual assault on a 12 year-old girl.

"Nicky" Harwell

Kevin Lyn Hawes, age 45 from Jacksonville, Texas. Arrested in 1999 by Cherokee County authorities for sexual assault on a 15 year-old girl. Hawes was offered 10 years probation.

Kevin Hawes

William Lee Hershiser, age 51 Jacksonville, Texas resident given 10 years probation for sexual assault on a local 15 year-old female.

William Hershier

This only scratches the surface of the convicted sex offenders (still residing in-county) arrested by and registered with the Cherokee County Sheriff Department. These are the sex predators registered with the State and given probation as 'punishment' by District Attorney Elmer Beckworth and his predecessors. Plea offers comparable to a slap on the wrist. What about the offenses passed on by the Sheriff Department and Beckworth's office? The ones the public will never know about?

Even if some of these men are innocent, the District Attorney's office prosecuted them under the penal code which is crystal clear on the punishment assessment for Indecency with a Minor.

INDECENCY OR SEXUAL ASSAULT OF A CHILD: An offense under Texas Penal Code Sections 22.011 (Sexual Assault) or 22.021 (Aggravated Sexual Assault) where the victim is a child (younger than 17 years), and an offense under 21.11 (Indecency with a Child).

§ 12.33. SECOND DEGREE FELONY PUNISHMENT. (a) An individual adjudged guilty of a felony of the second degree shall be punished by imprisonment in the institutional division for any term of not more than 20 years or less than 2 years. (b) In addition to imprisonment, an individual adjudged guilty of a felony of the second degree may be punished by a fine not to exceed $10,000.

That is why there are no reports of the child molesters' probation in the local Cherokee County papers. Only the fact there are registered sex offenders living in the county. Of course the typical excuse of the Cherokee County District Attorney's office et al is that the law would not allow jail time for a 2nd degree Felony. If you're stupid enough to believe it, print it and repeat it. The Texas Penal Code and Constitution do not tie the hands of state prosecutors, only those of the patently corrupt.

The remainder of current registered sex offenders given probation without jail time in Cherokee County Texas:

1. Roy Joe Bailey, age 65, Wells TX: arrested in 2007; 10 yrs. probation/ 12 year-old female victim.


2. Richard Dean Davis, age 50, Rusk TX: arrested in 1996; 10 yrs. probation/14 year-old female victim.


3. J.E. Monroe Martin, age 85, Rusk TX: arrested in 1997; 3 yrs. probation/ 12 year-old female victim.


4. Dale Joseph Tylich, age 53, Rusk TX: arrested in 1996; 6 mos. probation/ female victim unknown age.


5. Tommy Junior Allen, age 51, Jacksonville TX: arrested in 1991; 10 yrs. probation/ 11 year-old female.


6. James Travis Barker, age 25, Jacksonville TX: arrested in 1999; 24 mos. city jail/ 6 year-old female.


7. Roger Hunter, age 75, Jacksonville TX: arrested in 1997; 10 yrs. probation/ 14 year-old female.


8. James L Wells, age 55 , Jacksonville TX: arrested in 1998; 8 yrs. probation/ 2 counts sexual assault on a 5 year-old and a 6 year-old.


9. Gary Michael Morrison, age 51, Alto TX: arrested 1991; 10 yrs. probation/ sexual assault of 12 year-old female.


10. Wesley Boyd Mohr, age 63, Bullard TX: arrested by Cherokee Co. in 1997; 10 yrs. probation for sexual assault of 10 year-old girl.

The summary of every one of these registered sexual offenses is readily available on the Texas DPS Sex Offender Registry website and Cherokee County Texas court docket. However, not one of these rapes, molestations or incidents of child pornography has been NOR ever will be reported by the Cherokee County newspapers. Unless the perpetrator was born out of town. Then they'll throw the book at him.

This blog posting covers only a partial list of the registered sex offenders that actually reside in Cherokee County, TX and on probation for Aggravated Sexual Assault of a Child; there is no known count of those child molesters given probation and registered/relocated in other states or counties. Regardless, Elmer Beckworth's and the Cherokee County District Attorney office's pattern of lenient plea bargains going back decades to resident child molesters related to members of the local 'establishment' is crystal clear. They are sheltered and not reported.

A far cry from the more recent sentencing of out-of-towner Gordon Neal Mathis. The former US Army reservist pled guilty in January 2008 to 6 counts of sexual assault of a 12-year-old Rusk, TX girl and on Monday, February 11, 2008 was sentenced to 40 years State time. Mathis had been convicted in federal court and was beginning his 8 years in federal prison for child porn possession. The 2/17/08 Tyler Paper article gives the impression that former the Army reservist Gordon Mathis was "prosecuted" by an Assistant Cherokee County District Attorney, instead of the fact Mathis threw himself at mercy of the district court, claiming post traumatic stress syndrome. And since his offenses were widely reported by the Tyler Paper, the district court got a little busy and decided Adult Probation wasn't appropriate for Mathis' sex crimes. And the Cherokeean Herald quickly dropped their policy of not printing the age of the victim. Gordon Neal Mathis was sentenced on 6 counts of molesting the child for over a two year span.

View the remainder of Cherokee County's bonafide child molesters living in the area on the Texas DPS Sex Offender Registry located at: https://records.txdps.state.tx.us/DPS_WEB/Sor/index.aspx

Do a comparison of sex offenders convicted in other counties by prosecutors following the intent of the law. They put child molesters in prison even for statutory rape.



Athens, Texas: Athens Fire Chief Dan Barnes and Athens Fire Marshall Waylen Padgett were recently placed on admistrative leave and Chief Barnes resigned Monday January 28, 2008 amid an investigation led by the Assistant Fire Chief. The Athens Texas city council has been hush hush regarding the internal affairs review of alleged "allegations."

Longview, Texas: Gregg County Justice of the Peace clerk D. Donna Wallace pled guilty on Wednesday February 13, 2008 to government records tampering. Wallace used an alias to work at the JP office and continue to draw Social Security disability benefits.

Troup, Texas: Dale Lowry and wife Brenda Lowry of Troup, TX were indicted in a Tyler Texas federal grand jury during the first week of February 2008 for allegedly stealing over $28,000 of Social Security disability benefits. The couple had claimed a child as a dependent, even though the child was no longer living with them.

Gregg County, Texas: Sheriff candidate Billy Ray White was sentenced to 6 months deferred probation for falsifying the employment record of one of his employees. White operated a security service; the security guard did not have a firearm license when White hired him.

Jacksonville, Texas: The Jacksonville, TX police department convinced itself from an in-house generated report that racial profiling by its officers was completely imaginary. On Tuesday February 12, 2008, the mayor read the results to the city council that the JPD had ZERO complaints filed regarding discriminating traffic stops and ZERO incidents of racial disparity. Probably because people of ethnic backgrounds and skin coloring are too afraid to drive to the grocery store at night, by fear of being framed, raped or worse.

The city of Jacksonville, Texas is the largest economic center in the county and it is still reeling from the civil suit settlements resulting in the Jacksonville police department starting a race riot at the 2004 Tomato Bowl homecoming game. And for each rape complaint against its decorated patrolman Larry Pugh, sentenced to 17 years in federal prison. When a Cherokee County woman would come forward with an allegation of Pugh raping her, the benign police officer and family man got accommodations by the Jacksonville police department. Until he was caught dragging a complainant into a van by her neck. And despite Officer Pugh facing federal indictment, the County Attorney tried Larry Hinton of Jacksonville, for interfering with Officer Pugh's racial profiling during the 2004 Tomato Bowl riot. But that's "nonexistent."

Jacksonville, Texas: Not only does the Cherokee County Criminal Docket give a peek into the machinations of the district court, the Civil Docket shows the ongoing get rich schemes of relatives planted on Bodily Injury cases. Large companies from out of region foolish enough to set up shop for the cheap local labor are the target of 'slip-and-fall' and other concocted lawsuits.

Two major employers in Jacksonville, Texas, Astro Air- a heating and cooling coil manufacturing plant and Alliance Data- a support tech call center, will be closing their doors permanently in 2008. These firms' relocations will be putting hundreds of locals out of jobs. A sad series of inevitable events for the already destitute county. However, this is probably the first of many wise corporate decisions to vacate the county known for the lack of competitive bidding when it comes to issuing government contracts. And its newspapers not advertising a prescribe method of identifying qualified bidders. The contracts underhandedly going to relatives, even those good ol’ boys with offenses (like those listed above) involving moral turpitude who would otherwise be ineligible to work under any state, county or city job.

For example, city School Board Trustees awarding school renovation projects to their cousin’s construction company. And Billy Bob’s Construction allowing registered sex offenders on the school property to work during class time.

Or instances of county equipment being used as personal property, at the taxpayer’s expense to dig catfish ponds, pave private roads and driveways; including the use of probationers and government employees to work “outside the fence” on private land.

The locals know it’s been going on for decades, but these duped companies’ Board of Directors contemplating doing business in Cherokee County don’t find out until it is too late. The Cherokee County civil docket can attest to the exorbitant amount of lawsuits these remaining companies are facing, and the excessive payouts they are going to pay by summary judgment. There is no such thing as an unbiased juror in a town that small. And they see the flashing dollar signs when a big company makes the mistake of trying to set up an office there. What better way to get a little extra spending money than extorting a company via a bogus lawsuit, with a biased Cherokee County jury chosen before the case is even heard?

For board members of these departing companies, there is no plausible way to estimate the pecuniary damages to the local Cherokee County economy this type of collusion causes. There is no way to compete and/or get a break when the court system is used as a means to wring out their bottom dollar. Certainly these businesses have gotten sick of the Personal Injury suits filed on them; the same cases that backlog the Civil Docket.

Moreover, these corporations’ insurance premiums are bound to have skyrocketed after being targeted by the local ‘slip-and-fall’ con artists. Of course, a sympathetic civil jury related to the victim is readily available for the milking of their profit shares. Cheap labor or not, it is apparently smarter for IT companies and their subsidiaries to avoid the distrustful small town job market. Manufacturing plants owe it to their shareholders to do business where their profit earnings don't line the pockets of East Texas trial lawyers.

Even Cherokee County’s versions of ‘professionals’ are waiting in line to file a claim against these industries. These companies are only attempting to branch into the rural market. However, once the firms set up shop within the county, they can expect to be lambasted with frivolous lawsuits. And they can expect to pay through the nose because everybody wants a piece of the pie. Then these companies venture elsewhere and leave the honest hard working Cherokee County Texas citizen unemployed, bringing the county's economy back to the pre-Reconstruction era. According to the 2000 US Census, Cherokee County Texas has a median income 30% lower than the national average.

The fact is the only economic development Cherokee County Texas has to offer the region is its apparent contribution to the illegal drug trade and prison population. The worst corporate decision a CEO can make is setting an office up in a county whose local government officials have reputations of collusion and conflicts of interests.

Whistlin’ Dixie in the 21st Century. Solved murder bad for Angelina County Sheriff? Tyler man gets bail revoked for 1st violation.

It's 2008, and the Cherokee County, TX media is still doing their darndest to gloss over the arrest record of its law enforcement and abject failure protecting its scant 47,000 citizens. This observation is not the result of a "fishbowl effect" of a disproportionate number of arrests of Cherokee County law enforcement, as compared to larger counties. Sure one constable gets sentenced to 10 years in federal prison, but Cherokee County only has four precincts. Sure one patrolman gets sentenced to 17 years in federal prison, but the city of Jacksonville, TX has only ten cops; and 1/2 of them have been investigated by the FBI in the last 5 years. The fact is the corrupt political structure of the county is so ingrained, things are only going to get worse the more the US Attorney's office scrutinizes the region. These people won't be giving up their government paychecks without a fight and their favorite tactic is to use the local paper to frighten minorities contemplating federal civil rights lawsuits.

Cherokee County honored its Civil War traditions in early December 2007 with a local Sons of the Confederate Veterans hoopla complete with a General Robert E. Lee award, President Jefferson Davis award and General Stonewall Jackson award going to the most lilywhite Rebeller. Candidates for the Abraham Lincoln and M.L.K. award were apparently not invited. This ain’t just a Civil War memorial, you know what I mean?
View the Alto, TX Confederate States of America chapter on the internet.



There is no thinly veiled agenda in the local ‘heritage defense league.’ Or as local chapters of the SCV call it: “The Northern War of Aggression, the true history of the South.”
But then again there is no historical reenactments or literature provided either at their clandestine meetings on taxpayer property. Other than the local Cherokeean-Herald insulting their black readers with a blasé contention that the Confederacy shouldn’t be indentified with the KKK. But then again, telling their readers who the members of the White Brotherhood are. Printing this redneck rubbish solely for the Martin Luther King holiday and upcoming Black History month. And displaying it at the city of Alto, Texas Public Library Conference Room.

To outsiders this type of Rebel Rousing would appear to be typical East Texas race baiting. However to the large number of black Americans living in the area, it is designed to have a deeper psychological impact. The message is crystal clear.

Without delving back to the turn of the century, we will take a brief look at Cherokee County, TX retrospectively over the last 18 months. Go down the list and tell yourselves Cherokee County, Texas isn’t corrupt. What a great year for the taxpayer.

Cherokee County Texas (2006 to 2007):
Constable Pct. 3 Randall Thompson pleads guilty in March 2006 for possession and distribution of 108 grams of crystal meth after ‘evading’ his duties as district court bailiff. Thompson was sentenced to 10 years in federal prison after his ‘resignation.’ Thompson had been appointed as deputy constable by Cherokee County commissioners and had been elected Constable Pct. 3 in 2004. The Texas Association of Counties (TAC) gives a description of Constable Randall Thompson's duties he perform while manufacturing and distributing meth.

• subpoena of court witnesses;


• acting as bailiff for the 369th District and officer of the court;


• process of service and executing judgments;


• patrolling;


• assisting criminal investigations and drug raids; and


• acting as executive officer for the Justice of the Peace.

You, the lowly taxpayers are supposed to believe that after being elected as Constable, Thompson never worked a single day in the Rusk, TX courthouse or Hodges Unit. You are to believe that in a town that small, where everybody knows what you ate for supper the night before, that :
NO ONE in the district court or county commissioner’s office knew that Constable Thompson had been arrested for drug dealing -
AND they didn’t know where Thompson was before his federal arraignment?

As a matter of fact, a Failure to Appear hearing in the 369th district court was convened a day before Randall Thompson's federal indictment "Because they hadn’t seen their bailiff for 2 years…" A constable who was appointed by Cherokee County commissioners in 2002 then elected to office in 2004, all the while working as a correctional officer and bailiff in Rusk, Texas. It would take a court hearing to remove an elected official, however Cherokee County was apparently pleased with Constable Thompson's service until the feds caught him dealing crystal meth and indicted him. Pleased enough to keep paying his salary and lawyer fees. But of course they never met the guy, had him over for dinner or took him to the deer lease---hell, he didn't show up for work for 2 years... Must've been driving that "Cherokee County" marked SUV down to the valley each week to deal drugs "to pay his child support."


Constable Pct. 3 Randall Thompson circa July 2005, tells KLTV Channel 7 Tyler-Longview-Jacksonville, TX in an expose' on how he spends his gas money "dealing with illegal dumping, serving warrants, making traffic stops and arrests." Looks like he's on his way to work.

However, hours before Thompson's federal indictment for drug dealing, it became more expedient for the district court and county commisioners to distance themselves from their guy they had appointed in 2004 to serve their wealthiest precinct. It is this type of perpetuated lying that is intrinsic in Cherokee County Texas political culture. Decades of the same nonsense reprinted and linked to here.

Anderson and Cherokee County crisis centers (located in Palestine and Jacksonville, TX) lost state funding in September 2007 along with losing private grant funding and federal funding in November 2007. Due in large part to the city of Jacksonville’s handling of the Larry Pugh rape attacks on Cherokee County women. In December 2007, the centers were temporarily saved when $159,000 was granted through a discretionary fund via the governor’s Criminal Justice Division and lobbying efforts of state Senator Robert Nichols (R-Jacksonville).

State District 3’s former senator Drew Nixon (Rep.-Carthage) and his run-ins with law have also been swept under the carpet. Nixon retired his state senate seat in 2000 after being charged with soliciting a prostitute in Austin and was indicted by a Panola County grand jury in July 2007 for fixing the Panola County Fresh Water Supply District board election. Drew Nixon’s latest state charge is official oppression for his “abuse of office.” However, District 11 State Representative Chuck Hopson’s (Rep.-Jacksonville) 2002 campaign treasurer once married to a convicted burglar apparently wasn’t an issue for the papers, either.



TX State District 3

In more horror stories in the month of September 2007, former decorated Jacksonville, TX patrolman Larry Pugh sentenced to over 15 years in federal prison for rape and retaliation, also linked to the skeletal remains of one of his missing federal complainants.

convicted Jacksonville, TX police officer Larry Pugh

New Summerfield hired Michael Meissner as Chief of Police in March 2007. Meissner was subsequently fired for his lack of current TCLEOSE certification and continues to seek employment in law enforcement in the Dallas/Fort Worth metroplex.

Michael Meissner and friends [courtesy Ellis County Observer]

Local media interpret the hiring of Meissner as a simple mistake in a formal background check, placing the blame on Meissner for not reporting his silly little TECLEOSE reprimands. Why would Meissner need a peace officer license when interns for the district attorney's office can walk up and down the hallways of the Rusk, TX courthouse pretending to have passed the State Bar exam?

$150,000 stolen from the Rusk, TX Water Department by a city employee in March 2007. The community was lied to about the embezzlement case going to a Cherokee County grand jury in September 2007. In December 2007 the Rusk City Council was still waiting for a resolution of the case and an indictment. District Attorney Elmer Beckworth’s excuse was a potential conflict of interest with a member of his October 2007 grand jury being related to the case…as if that was the first relative being seated on a Cherokee County grand jury before. Only when the Texas Rangers are involved in the case.

In April 2007, the city of Jacksonville, TX settled a police brutality suit with victim Larry Hinton after Hinton was beaten, tasered and his teeth kicked out during 2004’s Tomato Bowl riot. Hinton had been acquitted of “misdemeanor charges of interfering with an officer’s duties” after the 2004 High School homecoming brawl. Misdemeanor charges that resulted in Mr. Hinton and his pregnant wife being kicked, beaten and falsely put on trial. Interfering with a police officer’s arrest is actually a felony; hence the protest on the Rusk courthouse steps in January 2006.

Mr. Larry Hinton not only had his teeth kicked out and his pregnant wife beaten up, but HE was placed on trial by Cherokee County Attorney Craig Caldwell. The charge of "interfering" during the race riot based on the report of a police officer out on federal bond for rape AND during which the affiant (Jacksonville TX police officer Larry Pugh) was stalking and disposing of his federal complainants.

Apparently the word of a rapist facing 144 months in federal prison is worth more than a black man and his pregnant wife’s, enough to waste the taxpayer’s dollars to tell the county what a good job Pugh and others did starting the 2004 Tomato Bowl riot. View Larry Pugh’s March 2007 federal sentencing on the Department of Justice press release NOT published by Cherokee County media: http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/txe/news_release/news/EDTX_PUGH030107.html

However, the Jacksonville Daily Progress did report that Cherokee County Sheriff Deputy Regina Battley had the excessive force suit against her, filed by the Hintons and a female victim, dismissed in December 2006.

Civil Rights Class Action Suits include 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). These women are the other handful of Cherokee County rape victims seeking settlements with Officer Pugh's employers. Never read about them anywhere did you?

Yes, 2007 has been a typical year for Cherokee County, Texas but nothing to cheer about. Local officials hiding under the pretext of false legal statutes and pretending they never hired nor worked with the above mentioned criminals. A sharp contrast to the Fort Worth, TX police department who fired 2 police officers on December 20, 2007. Officers Craig Murrah and David Babb are separately accused of spanking a female detainee and Babb for groping the 9 year-old daughter of a co-worker. Babb had been indicted in September 2007 for the fondling; Murrah is awaiting the Tarrant County grand jury and had prior indecency complaints.
Based on the “merits of the case,” Fort Worth police chief Ralph Mendozza terminated both policemen prior to their trials. Cherokee County would have promoted the pair.

In other corrupt news for the beginning of the New Year.

Jacksonville, TX:
The Eastern District Federal Grand Jury in Tyler indicted Jacksonville, TX resident Kenneth Dale Kern on January 11, 2008. Kenneth Kern was True Billed for theft of social security money and government property. The indictment alleged that Kern fraudulently accepted $32,000 in Social Security disability benefits between 2002 and 2007 and did not disclosed to government administrators his job with Jacksonville employer Nicky Joe Tarrant. Kenneth Kern also faces 10 years for making false statements to federal agents. Cherokee County, Texas media outlets, probably due to Kern’s Jacksonville employer being related to members of the Jacksonville, TX ISD school board , the captain of the Jacksonville Fire Department and a Rusk, TX correctional officer, have not reported Kenneth Kern’s federal indictment. Kern apparently had worked for the Tarrant family business for years while simultaneously receiving government disability checks.


Upshur County, TX deputy indicted; Deputy Richard Louis Bridgewater age 29 was indicted in December 2007 on 5 counts of child indecency. The deputy had admitted to inappropriate contact with an 11-year-old girl. Bridgewater is being held in neighboring Titus County jail as a “safety precaution.” He had a brief stint with the Overton, TX and Big Sandy police departments. Bridgewater now faces 20 years in prison if convicted.

Smith County, TX:
Suspended volunteer firefighter Austin Harden age 17 was arrested December 24, 2007 for posing as a fireman at a house fire on FM 2493. Harden had also been arrested in August 2007 for impersonating a police officer.

Hale County, TX:
A prison guard at the Wheeler Unit in Plainview, TX has been indicted for murder by a Hale County grand jury on December 24, 2007. Jose Rodriguez was charged in the death of inmate Paul Ray Judia after Judia died from head injuries sustained in his cell.

Kilgore, TX:
Gregg County correctional officer Eric Sanders age 24 arrested December 11, 2007 for passing illegal drugs to inmates in the North Jail facility.

Rusk County, TX:
Chief Deputy Daniel “Dusty” Flanagan in Tyler Federal Court Wednesday January 9, 2008. Flanagan had his sentencing hearing postponed. Chief Deputy Flanagan and Lt. Johnny Leon Davidson Jr., both pleaded guilty in July 2007 for assaulting Shawn Wright will in custody. The former sheriff deputies and Rusk County are facing excessive force civil suits by Wright AND sexual harassment suits by a former female deputy. U.S. District Judge Michael Schneider postponed Flanagan’s federal sentencing (he is facing 10 years for the police brutality against Mr. Wright) until the civil matter of restitution is resolved. Flanagan and Davidson concocted fraudulent police reports to cover their actions.

In neighboring Cherokee County, TX , the assaulting police officers would have been promoted and the fraudulent police statements held up as irrefutable proof by the district attorney’s office as in the case of Mr. John Brown of Alto, Texas. Officers with a history of excessive force are even endorsed to run in elections as Cherokee County Constables now that have proven their mettle in federal court. With a few minor drug busts under their belts and proving their willingness to violate the law can get some cushy jobs. Remember, the Trade Winds motel in Jacksonville, TX provides “anonymous” tips to Cherokee County deputies; not an illegal phone drop placed on a motel room. Tips are called “anonymous” by Cherokee County deputies when phone lines are illegally monitored.

Then again, they may be knocking down your door when an "anonymous tip" from the jailhouse leads to a 911 call being generated in a lightning storm. That’s called intelligence gathering; it’s “against the law” for Cherokee County sheriff deputies to “listen in” to private citizens phone calls, not inmates in the county jail. Therefore the sheriff's office can have it both ways- deny they monitor jailhouse payphones and tell the FBI a jailbird gave them information.

Henderson County, TX:
Mayor Gene Bearden of Log Cabin, Texas (pop. 733) under investigation for personal use of an EXXON credit card. The case had been investigated by the Texas Rangers and handed over to the Henderson County district attorney.

Gregg County, TX:
Correctional officers Johnny W. Adair and Michelle Parvin were arrested Monday December 17, 2008 for passing banned tobacco products to inmates in the Gregg County jailhouse. This comes after the arrest of fellow Gregg County jailer Chris Sanders one week earlier for delivery of contraband to prisoners. All three were terminated after taken in for questioning according to Sheriff Maxi Cerliano.

Tyler, TX:
Tyler police officer Scott Bradley resigned after a DWI charge on December 5, 2007. Apparently Officer Bradley had been out drinking that night with a visiting Los Angeles detective scheduled to testify in Smith County court. Officer Bradley was arrested at the scene after crashing his car into a telephone pole. He was later placed on administrative leave, and then subsequently quit his position. Bradley was a decorated cop and was recognized by the U.S. Attorney’s Office in May 2007 for his service breaking up a nationwide methamphetamine ring. Officer Scott Bradley was part of a federal drug task force operating in Tyler, Texas.
Had Officer Bradley been operating in Cherokee County, TX to the south, then he could have had a relative in the Rusk post office smash his blood sample on its way to the Austin DPS. His drunken melee’ would have never made the local papers either. In fact oodles of accolades would have spilt from the Cherokeean Herald pressroom.
No one would be the wiser….

Nacogdoches, TX:
Tnisha Steadman, correctional officer for the Nacogdoches County sheriff’s department was fired and arrested Tuesday January 8, 2008 for passing a cell phone to an inmate. Ms. Steadman’s posted her bond at $5000. Sheriff Thomas Kerss commented on having to arrest one of his staff members, “We don’t put ourselves above the law.”

Lufkin, TX:
Angelina County Sheriff candidate and Lufkin police officer Trent Burfine has posted on his campaign website autopsy pictures of a slain local teenage girl. Pictures he says proves the mishandling of the 2003-2005 murder case by Angelina County investigators. The graphic crime scene photographs have caused controversy in the sheriff race, however officer Trent Burfine was within the state’s open records laws when the murder case was closed.

Officer Burfine contends on his webpage Angelina County Sheriff Ken Henson potted a murder investigation of the slain teenager after autopsy reports indicated toxic levels of crystal meth present in her system. Even though her body had extensive bruising and no needles or other indications of an overdose (or suicide) was discovered. The photos show how sheriff investigators contaminated the crime scene. The Lufkin police department took up the murder investigation, resulting in multiple convictions in 2005. A murder Angelina County refused to even consider. This attitude is shared in neighboring Cherokee County, Texas when it comes to investigating the death of undesirables. Why spend the money? It is unfortunate that Sheriff Henson decided it wasn’t in his 2003 budget to investigate the murder of Candice Alexander. Neighboring Cherokee County shares the same mentality as when 2 Jacksonville, TX women went missing prior to Larry Pugh’s federal trial. They collectively treat these women lower than roadside litter, and candidate Burfine should be commended for his exposure of this malfeasance. No murder investigation was needed up in Jacksonville, either. Of course no one up there ever challenges the established mindset or incumbents.

Case comparisons of the month-
State vs. Michael Frater (Smith Co. 2007) AND State vs. Michael Harris (Cherokee Co. 2005)

Tyler, TX:
On November 15, 2007, 47 year-old Tyler, TX resident Michael Edward Frater went on trial for “threatening” his estranged wife Ethel Gibson Frater. Unlike the case State v. Michael Harris in Jacksonville, TX, the Smith County district attorney’s office filed a motion to revoke Frater’s bail on an unrelated probation violation after Frater allegedly made one threatening call to his estranged ex-wife. In the similar scenario a few years earlier in Cherokee County, Michael Harris was out on felony bond for arson and continued to threaten, harass and trespass onto his ex-wife's property. Mr. Frater had his bail pulled immediately; Mr. Harris had his bail reset during multiple hearings at the Rusk, TX courthouse, while simultaneously being escorted to drug treatment at the Rusk State Hospital.

Michael Edward Frater

Mr. Frater’s bond was NOT set and reset and reset as Cherokee County did for Michael Harris; Mr. Frater was also not in custody or under State supervision. Frater had been paroled in 2006 from Tarrant County for a felony DWI and denied threatening his ex-wife.
Frater was put on trial by the Smith County district attorney for felony retaliation. Michael Frater was acquitted by a Smith County jury on November 16, 2007. Michael Harris continued his escalating domestic violence and murdered his ex-wife Faye Bell Harris of Jacksonville in 2003.

Michael Harris also accepted a plea bargin of life in prison and the family of the deceased was told Harris' bonds just couldn't be rescinded until Texas law was changed. Cherokee County blamed the 4th Amendment of the United States and the Texas constitution for deliberately resetting a drug informant's bail, allowing Michael Harris out on the streets to eventually murder his former wife.

http://www.cherokeecountytexas.blogspot.com/
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369th-district-court