Officials charged over alleged fund violations
Used car salesman improperly gave money to candidates, records show
Three of four candidates in the 2016 race for Jefferson County Sheriff were indicted Friday on suspicion of allegedly accepting thousands of dollars in illegal campaign contributions from the owner of a Beaumont car dealership who is under federal investigation.
Sheriff Zena Stephens, Deputy Joe “QB” Stevenson and former Beaumont Police Lt. Ray Beck turned themselves in to the Chambers County Jail Friday morning, where they were booked and released on bail.
Stephens, who defeated Stevenson in the 2016 Democratic primary and beat Beck, a Republican, in the 2016 election to become the first black woman elected sheriff in Texas, could be removed from office if convicted.
The former Prairie View A&M University police chief is accused of accepting $1,000 from Daylight Motors owner Larry Tillery in May 2016 and $5,000 from Tillery in September 2016, according to her indictment.
Stephens also is charged with tampering with a governmental record for allegedly reporting the $5,000 in the section of her campaign finance report for donations of less than $50, “with intent to defraud or harm” Jefferson County citizens, the indictment said.
If convicted of the state jail felony, Stephens could be sentenced to up to two years in jail and fined up to $10,000.
According to Beck’s indictment, he is accused of accepting $5,000 from Tillery between Nov. 4, 2016 and Feb. 15, 2017, and failing to return the illegal contribution in compliance with election law.
He was indicted on two Class A misdemeanor charges, each of which carries penalties of up to one year in jail and a fine of up to $4,000. He could not be reached for comment Friday.
Stevenson is accused of accepting $1,000 from Tillery between Feb. 9, 2016 and May 20, 2016. He declined to comment when reached by phone Friday.
The election code says candidates may not “knowingly accept” cash from a single contributor that totals more than $100.
Stephens’ attorney, Sean Villery-Samuel, defended her in a statement, saying “as the community will learn, Sheriff Stephens had no criminal intent in her actions. The charges, in this case, are a clear overreach by prosecutors who are willing to ‘throw the baby out with the bathwater.’”
Villery-Samuel said the first-time candidate “has now been accused of a technical violations of the lengthy and complex election code, in spite of her trying to cure that violation once she became aware of its existence.”
The Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement that it “is aware of the indictments against Sheriff Stephens” and “will continue to operate as usual providing dedicated service and protection to the citizens of our County.”
The alleged violations were brought to state authorities by federal officials who discovered them “during an unrelated federal investigation,” Attorney General Ken Paxton’s office said.
Tillery, who owns Daylight Motors, a used car dealership on Eastex Freeway and Dowlen Road in Beaumont, is under investigation for running an illegal gambling operation, according to federal court records. He could not be reached for comment Friday.
The U.S. Department of Justice filed paperwork last May in the U.S. Court for the Eastern District of Texas to seize nine properties from Tillery.
“The investigation has found evidence that Larry Tillery is operating an illegal sports betting operation with bettors located nationwide,” a special agent from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security wrote in an affidavit. “The investigation has also found evidence that Larry Tillery is evading taxes associated with his gambling activities.”
Nine properties in Beaumont, Lumberton and Phoenix, Arizona were listed in the affidavit, valued at more than $5.3 million.
A criminal investigation is ongoing, according to court documents, and a federal judge last month issued an order halting the seizure of the properties until the investigation is complete.
“No one is above the law,” Paxton said in a statement Friday. “The conduct of the people indicted by the grand jury is illegal and erodes the public trust. Working with local and state law enforcement, my office intends to hold them accountable.”