Long overdue….
Link to tweet thread…
Forgot link sorry.
Link to tweet thread…
>>2566 https://twitter.com/Wizard_Predicts/status/1299483505043275776?s=20
A former Harris County deputy constable and her husband pleaded guilty Wednesday to charges of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute heroin, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Southern District of Texas.
Betty Jean Molina, 57, and her husband, Henry Molina, 60, both live in Houston. They previously admitted to transporting what they believed to be about a half-million dollars in drug money on multiple occasions. They had also agreed to transport heroin, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.
Betty Molina was a deputy constable with Harris County Pct. 5 Constable’s Office at the time of the offense. As part of her plea, she admitted to using her law enforcement credentials when stopped for speeding on one of their trips, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.
The couple further admitted to transporting a “significant amount of narcotics” and bringing several thousands of dollars of drug money back to Houston. They earned about $30,000 from the criminal acts, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.
https://fcced.com/ex-harris-county-deputy-constable-pleads-guilty-25101921/
Former Jacksonville City Council members set for sentencing in fraud case
Former Jacksonville City Council members Katrina Brown and Reggie Brown are scheduled to be in federal court Tuesday to begin a hearing on their punishment for dozens of fraud convictions.
Up to three days of witness testimony and lawyers’ arguments could unfold before U.S. District Judge Marcia Morales Howard imposes sentences on the pair.
A jury found the two guilty almost 13 months ago of charges including mail and wire fraud, money laundering and conspiracy that involved misusing federally backed loan money and a city grant for a failed factory project once expected to add jobs in a struggling neighborhood.
The case did not involve their actions as council members, but prosecutors argued they deserved stern treatment because of their positions.
“Local government leaders and those aspiring to lead have a legal, ethical, and moral obligation to conduct themselves within the bounds of the law and operate beyond reproach. Katrina Brown and Reginald Brown failed to do that,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Tysen Duva argued in a sentencing memo last month.
“Instead, they illustrated their felonious-level sense of entitlement by stealing federally-backed and city of Jacksonville … funds that originated from taxpayers,” Duva wrote. “… When local politicians engage in such behavior, society expects courts to imprison them.”
Both Browns, who are not related, were on the council when they were indicted and suspended from office in 2018.
Katrina Brown, who touted her business acumen when she ran for office, had been handling invoices and payments for a $2.65 million small-business loan her restaurant-operating family took out to build a factory for their signature product, Jerome Brown BBQ Sauce.
Instead of a simple business failure, the loan became a criminal matter when prosecutors said Katrina Brown had responded to business setbacks by filing bogus invoices so the lender, New Orleans-based BizCapital Bidco I, would release draws from the loan money.
Investigators testified at the trial about invoices that led the lender to send payments to two businesses Reggie Brown controlled, A-Plus Training and RB Packaging – and that the money was split between the defendants later. An FBI accountant told jurors that about half of the $286,000 Reggie Brown’s companies received between 2013 and 2015 ended up being sent to Katrina Brown or her family’s business.
Although both politicians had court-appointed attorneys during the trial – Katrina Brown represented herself, with her lawyer standing by if needed – they both hired private attorneys ahead of the sentencing.
The defense lawyers have argued for probation, with Katrina Brown’s attorney, Curtis Fallgatter, telling Howard that his client used the loan money to try to keep the company in business.
“That utilization of the funds is the antithesis of fraud,” Fallgatter wrote in a sentencing memo that said Katrina Brown “worked incredibly hard to make this business a success.”
Full Article: https://fcced.com/ex-jacksonville-council-members-set-sentence-2710201522/