Woman accused of trying to frame boyfriend
Fake texts, social media accounts allegedly used to get back at him
A 22-year-old Baytown woman was arrested Thursday, accused of trying to frame her boyfriend with false charges of domestic violence and bribery of a state district judge.
Lisa Marie Garcia was charged with retaliation and online impersonation in a case prosecutors called “a nightmare.” She is accused of using fake social media accounts and cellphone apps to manufacture false threats and claims that appeared to be from her boyfriend. If convicted, she could face up to 10 years in prison.
Those fake texts, along with Garcia’s false statements to police at different agencies, got him arrested for making terroristic threats in September. When the fake threats continued, he was sent back to jail and court for violating the terms of his bail, which included not contacting her.
The digital trickery landed 23-year-old Brandon Berrott in jail at least three times and cost him his job, prosecutors said Thursday.
“He didn’t do any of this. He was charged with eight criminal cases and is innocent of all of them,” said prosecutor Britni Cooper. “I’m horrified, actually, and can’t imagine what this guy went through. It’s a nightmare.”
The case culminated with Garcia calling the mayor of Baytown on Thanksgiving weekend and demanding an investigation of state District Judge Brad Hart, who was presiding over Berrott’s cases. Garcia claimed her boyfriend’s mother, who works for Harris County,
had bribed Hart to continue allowing Berrott to make bail.
“(Garcia) told me that she made a false report to BPD ... about the threat and Judge Hart’s corruption,” a Harris County Sheriff’s investigator wrote in the criminal charge released Thursday. “(Garcia) expressed to me her frustration with Judge Hart for continuing to let Berrott out on bond.”
Cooper said the investigation also cleared Berrott’s mother and Hart of any wrongdoing.
Berrott was first arrested Sept. 16 after Garcia told police he threatened to kill her. Berrott was apparently in a relationship with Garcia and another woman and has children with both women, court records show.
‘Knew he wasn’t lying’
After her boyfriend made bail, Garcia allegedly set up Instagram accounts pretending to be him and sent messages to herself and the other woman threatening to kill each of them for calling the cops on him. She then took the messages to the Baytown Police Department and the Harris County Sheriff ’s Office, leading to seven charges being filed between Oct. 21 and Oct. 31.
Each time he got out on bail, Garcia would fake more messages and call the police, landing Berrott back in jail or court. He was accused of violating his bond conditions and no-contact orders.
As the situation escalated, Berrott lost his job at Goose Creek ISD’s central warehouse. Officials at the school district said Thursday that he was welcome to reapply for his job.
Berrott hired defense attorney Carl Moore, who approached prosecutors and investigators and said Berrott was innocent and would consent to any interviews and any searches of his electronic devices.
“In my 10 years of practicing law, I’ve never felt so confident that my client was innocent,” Moore said. “We submitted to voluntary interviews, which is something that I hardly ever let clients do, but I just knew he wasn’t lying to me. He never wavered.”
Moore said he believes Garcia targeted Berrott because of their custody battle over their child.
“She wanted him to revoke his parental rights and he said, ‘No, I want to be in my child’s life,’ ” Moore said. “When you read the messages, I believe you could tell that they were written by a female that was scorned.”
Thousands spent
Moore said Berrott’s family has spent thousands of dollars in fees and bonds to keep him out of jail and clear his name, money he will never get back.
“That needs to be out there, that some of these people are accused of crimes, it isn’t always what it seems,” Moore said. “Every blue moon we get something like this.”
Moore credited Cooper, the prosecutor, and Hart for listening to both sides as the case progressed. He said closer investigation showed objective proof of inconsistencies. For example, he said, one threatening message was sent at the same time as Berrott was on video handcuffed in the back of a police car.
“(Prosecutor Cooper) added on the dismissal forms ‘Actual Innocence’ and she didn’t have to do that,” Moore said.
Cooper said the onslaught of charges in October did not immediately raise red flags because the complaints were filed with different agencies. Once the DA’s office, the sheriff ’s office and Baytown police department put the pieces together, the pattern and the holes, were easy to see.
‘Need to be vigilant’
As the investigation continued, she said prosecutors were instructed to stop accepting charges from Garcia, who continued calling the police and filing false reports even while Berrott was working with authorities to clear his name.
Cooper said the case serves as a warning about staying on top of social media, just like identity theft cases.
“As a citizen, you need to be vigilant and aware of what’s out there with your name or your information on it,” she said. “If you think someone is trying to impersonate you, absolutely report it to police. We are prosecuting it and we are taking it seriously.”
She also said she expects district attorneys across the country to go through training as reminders that to look at social media posts skeptically.
“She’s 22 and she was able to create all these fake account and phone numbers,” she said. “It is a technical crime, but law enforcement has the tools to detect it.”