Jacksonville’s McCown charged for sex with student; JHS football player convicted for 2020 murder; assistant coach busted for sex assault of JHS student
Republican state senator Robert Nichols (Jacksonville) recognized by Athens ISD for being a good Democrat (Source: KETK)
Jacksonville’s Robert Nichols is against parents choosing where their kids go to school, while the children of his Colony Ridge donors attend high-end private schools. He says there is “no transparency” in school vouchers and “no accountability” in private schools, while his hometown cheerleaders ignore teacher-student relationships reaching epidemic levels. Senator Nichols claims he is defending public education by opposing school choice. He gets to have it both ways when area ‘Christian’ private schools sing his praises for voting to impeach Attorney General Ken Paxton. The actual news reporting of teachers having sex with minors is quelled to protect the teachers associations lining everyone’s pockets. Meanwhile, teachers are screwing their students at record levels.
Athens ISD is against school choice while their teachers have sex with pupils. (Courtesy: KETK)
East Texas fake news will do everything possible to cover up for their hometown heroes. Local media go so far as changing and misspelling their names when they get busted for illegal acts, emboldening their little darlings to commit even more crimes. They lie about their ages when 40-year old coaches are charged with having sex with minors. Official statements misrepresent where they went to school and where they work. They create aliases for them while simultaneously scrapping all past reporting of their former pride and joys. The Jacksonville ISD can only offer plausible deniability when faculty is arrested for the sex assault of a student and the East Texas press runs with it. They get more upset with losing a football game than kids being molested in school. They run out-of-state articles of horrible things going on elsewhere courtesy of the Associated Press to pretend it’s not happening in their neck of the woods.
Parental choice is a threat to those who want their hands on your kids.
Former Jacksonville HS quarterback Andrew Carter McCown, of the McCown brothers’ NFL fame and now a high school teacher in the San Antonio area, was arraigned in April 2024 after an improper relationship with a 17-year old female student. (San Antonio teacher, coach charged with improper student relationship, My SA News) Carter McCown was arrested in 2022 on DWI and gun charges, when local media immediately began referring to him as Andrew McCown.
Jacksonville high school football fans remember him as Carter McCown and hope you do, too. In March 2024, the North East Independent School District contacted the San Antonio PD about the ongoing relationship.
“The suspect did not want to cooperate with the investigation,” said Sgt. Moscoso.
NEISD released a statement on the incident, emphasizing that McCown has not been on campus since the investigation began.
“Andrew McCown was hired at Roosevelt High School in the fall of this school year. In March, several students reported that he was having a relationship with a 17-year-old student. NEISD began an investigation and placed McCown on leave. He has not been back on campus since March 8,” said NEISD. (Source: News 4 SA)
Police are checking with other school districts for similar incidents. McCown’s hometown connections failed to acknowledge the arresting officers’ press conference.
The apples don’t fall far the tree.
Brandon Branton circa 2014, Jacksonville Boy’s Varsity
Former Jacksonville HS varsity player Brandon Branton was given a life sentence for the stabbing death of hitchhiker Randy Davenport back in 2020 (Jacksonville man gets life for 2020 stabbing death, KLTV). After graduation and nearly a decade of football heroics published in local newspapers, Number 55 had been convicted and released on multiple felony charges, including drug possession, firearm theft, and credit card abuse. Branton has been sitting on the Cherokee County criminal docket awaiting trial for nearly 4 years after the 2020 slaying.
Brandon Matthew Branton (Courtesy CCSO)
Statutory rape rarely gets prosecuted in Cherokee County and always gets water down when it involves school staff.
Kyle Kingrey coached the Jacksonville High School girls’ softball team, but he didn’t work for the Jacksonville ISD according to school officials, and as his grand jury will be instructed.
In 2023, Jacksonville ISD assistant coach Kyle Kingrey was arrested for the sex assault of a Jacksonville High School student. (Source: Athletic trainer accused of relationship with Jacksonville ISD student, KLTV) School officials’ response was to deny culpability and shift blame elsewhere, even denying Kingrey had access to students on campus or that he was employed through the district. Kingrey was contracted through UT Health as a licensed trainer for the female high school athletes. He had his hands all over the student body and the Jacksonville ISD knows it.
…Jacksonville ISD said Kingrey wasn’t employed by the district but was provided to them through an outside entity. (Source: KETK)
In November 2023 the Jacksonville ISD released the following bullshit statement:
“Jacksonville ISD is aware of the arrest of an individual who previously provided services to the District and who has not been on a JISD campus this school year. We are cooperating with local law enforcement agencies who are handling the investigation, and we have no further information to share at this time. This matter is still under the investigation of local authorities. JISD reiterates that the health and safety of our students always remain a paramount priority for our school district and for our community as a whole.” (Source: Jacksonville ISD athletic trainer arrested for sexual assault of child, KETK)
However, as a Jacksonville ISD assistant coach, Kingrey was providing rub downs for the girls’ softball team in April 2023 according to the Jacksonville Progress:
It was all Lady Panthers (and Mother Nature) in the decisive game. Conditions were so poor at one point, [Jasmine] Gallegos, the Jacksonville pitcher, was accidently [sic] hit in the face by a very slipper ball that was thrown by a teammate during between-inning warm-ups.
After receiving medical attention by Jacksonville assistant trainer Kyle Kingery [sic] during a brief stoppage in play for the weather, Gallegos, was able to get back out to the circle.
(Softball: Jacksonville’s season ends following two losses to Spring Hill, April 29, 2023 – Jacksonville Progress)
JHS girls’ softball coached by Kyle Kingrey circa April 2023 (Source: Daily Progress)
When Cherokee County’s small town icons are busted, expect a media blackout and feigned ignorance. In other parts of the State, law enforcement and school districts work together for the students’ safety and teacher accountability. Responsible institutions of learning don’t merely remove the name of the arrested teacher from the school website without calling a public meeting to address the issue. Legitimate news outlets don’t print deliberate typos and/or bury the story when the local sports idol is arrested.
Grapeland coach hired after child porn arrest
Joshua Jeremaine Kincade, 44, of Neches, was arrested on April 9 for showing porn to Junior High students (courtesy KTRE).
Houston County, TX:
Two female students filed a complaint with the Grapeland ISD back in Feb. alleging Coach Joshua Kincade displayed a naked man on his cellphone during theater class. They were approached again by Kincade and told not to tell anyone. For fear of reprisal, the students did not report the incident to school administrators until Kincade’s dismissal for a separate cause. A warrant for Kincade’s arrest was obtain March 26 and he was booked on a $10,000 bond for displaying harmful material to a minor. Not so ironically 10 years ago, Joshua Kincade’s home was raided on previous child porn charges.
“Mr. Kincade was not employed with Grapeland ISD after he was terminated from Grapeland ISD…” – Grapeland ISD
In typical guilty East Texas double-speak, Grapeland ISD superintendent David Maass stated, “Mr. Kinkade [sic] was not employed with the District when the allegations leading to the current criminal charges were discovered…” (Source: Former Grapeland ISD employee arrested over inappropriate photo, KTRE)
DUH…but Coach KINCADE was employed with the school district when he allegedly showed his students the explicit photos on his phone DURING CLASS. And Mr. Kincade was hired by the Grapeland ISD even though he had be charged in neighboring Anderson County with possession of child pornography back in 2013. Of course East Texas media pretends to not make the connection to what they previously reported, either.
Joshua Kincade, circa 2013 courtesy Anderson Co.
A Neches Independent School District board member remained in the Anderson County Jail Thursday after being arrested for possession of child pornography by Anderson County investigators.
According to Sheriff Greg Taylor, officers obtained an arrest warrant for 33-year-old Joshua Jeremaine Kincade late Wednesday, as well as a search warrant for his residence on FM 2267.
“We arrested him this morning and did a search on the residence today,” Taylor said Thursday. “We were able to obtain some evidence during the search.
“We seized a lot of electronic items that will be sent to the lab for evaluation.”
According to the sheriff, investigators were led to Kincade while looking into another case.
“He was in possession of a photograph of a 14-year-old female — on his smart phone,” Taylor said. “This is a serious crime and we will continue to investigate it.”
Kincade is charged with possession of child pornography and remained in jail on a $15,000 bond. Further charges are possible for the suspect, pending results of lab evaluations.
“We will have to wait and see,” Taylor said.
349th State District Judge Pam Foster Fletcher signed the warrants for the suspect’s arrest and search of his residence. ACSO’s Ryan Tolliver is the lead investigator on the case.
According to Herald-Press records, Kincade was elected to the Neches ISD school board in November 2012.
Governor Abbott snubs area State Rep, Appraisal District drops Cherokee County in official name
Travis Clardy is against school choice and sends his own kids to private school. (Courtesy: KETK)
According to Greg Abbott’s recent cease and desist letter, Texas House Rep. Travis Clardy (District 11) is falsely claiming the governor endorses him for re-election. Clardy has been sent to Austin for over a decade while drugs, crime, poverty, and illegal aliens have taken over his District. His counties include Nacogdoches, Shelby, Rusk, Newton, Sabine, and Panola. He represented Cherokee County through last year’s redistricting (Source: Ballotpedia).
Texas House District 11 would lose Cherokee County and pick up new territory to the east under a draft proposal being considered in the Texas Legislature. “I have been so proud to get to know and represent the folks of Cherokee County,” Clardy said in a video address to constituents Friday. (Source: Oct. 5, 2021 Daily Sentinel)
Cherokee County has no Democrat Primary this March and all Republican incumbent candidates are unchallenged, even their Precinct 4 Constable currently under indictment (Source: Grand jury indicts Cherokee County constable on assault charge, KLTV) Hence zero reporting of local uncontested elections to keep potential rivals at bay. They can pretend to just sweep into office.
In neighboring Nacogdoches County, State Representative Travis Clardy faces Republican challenger Joanne Shofner. Shofner and Clardy both reside in Nacogdoches; she gets endorsements from Greg Abbott, Donald Trump, Ted Cruz and numerous conservative organizations. Travis Clardy is endorsed by the teachers union pushing Critical Race Theory and LGBTQ crap. Clardy has also used snippets of Abbott’s feigned praise during his campaign, resulting in a ‘Cease and Desist’ threat directly from the governor’s office. Abbott makes it perfectly clear that he does not endorse Travis Clardy’s reelection. This election is not all about school choice vouchers, even with inappropriate teacher-student relationships on the rise in East Texas. It’s about the backstabbing bullshit going on in the Texas House of Representatives, i.e. the RINO-orchestrated coup to oust the duly elected Attorney General.
AG Ken Paxton’s sham impeachment trial will have political consequences for years.
Many a Republican legislator will be dumbfounded when they are not endorsed for trying to remove Ken Paxton on made up allegations. They claim to be “tough on the border” while at the same their colleagues are creating land deals for illegal alien settlements like Colony Ridge in Liberty County. Whether a poison pill or an actual attempt at controlling the Southern border, Governor Abbott has publicly drawn the line on illegal immigration and its effect on Texas communities. (Source: KETK, Feb 1, 2024)
“Nichols and Bailes made Colony Ridge possible”- Ken Paxton
In an open letter to the governor, Attorney General Paxton points out that two Republican legislators representing Liberty County, State Senator Robert Nichols out of Jacksonville (SD 3) and State Rep. Ernest Bailes (HD 18), sponsored legislation in 2017 to create a self-governing Municipal Management District for Colony Ridge. This backroom deal was designed to enrich land developers and themselves at the expense of their own constituents. Nichols’ and Bailes’ hidden consent agenda legislation did not fall under the Texas Open Meetings Act, and did not have deliberations or a vote.
“Colony Ridge is a huge problem… that’s why we helped create it,” say political ads for Ernest Bailes while Robert Nichols waits out his term.
Welcome to Colony Ridge, USA, courtesy the Republican Party of Texas
East Texas’ state and congressional representative districts have been gerrymandered for decades with little to no input thanks to the political ignorance and indifference of locals. Cherokee County was in Texas House District 11 in 2023 before being paired up with Anderson County in District 8 will little to no fanfare. Small town newspapers wait until the last minute to publish the roster of primary candidates and challengers. Cherokee County papers didn’t bother to mention their handpicked shoo-ins for 2023. They don’t want folks to know what’s going on. Residents don’t know who they are voting for, where to vote, or what’s on the ballot. Voting sites are operated by partisan poll workers related to county clerks. Ballot boxes are taken home, left in car trunks, and go missing. Counting continues in secret long after polling places close. In between elections, the area is delibertately flooded with drugs and crime for local politicians to promise to fight. Local media perpetuate the lie of Republicans’ chosen “conservative” contenders fighting for Christian values in Austin while they are all openly involved in shady land deals like Colony Ridge.
The federal government doesn’t crack down until undocumented migrants are foreclosed on.
Homegrown East Texan Republicans are getting rich on anti-American real estate deals. Their scheme is to offer housing to the millions upon millions of illegal border crossers already living in Texas. To be anointed, State reps and senators stay mum on the growing illegal populations in their home districts. State senator Robert Nichols has never said a word publicly about how he set up the legal framework for Colony Ridge’s deceptive financing. No mention of the exploding East Texas crystal meth epidemic or the thousand percent increase in crime moving in next door. Pseudo-conservatives claim to be “tough on the border,” while voting to impeach Attorney General Ken Paxton for suing the Biden administration over the illegal alien invasion. They attend abortion rallies in Austin and pro-Life churches back home. Like Jacksonville’s Robert Nichols, they’re for paid maternity leave and pro-abortion at the same time. If their backroom legislation ever gets reported, their hometown newspapers sing their praises for screwing over their constituents. They just call it something else to fool everyone.
Cherokee County’s Appraisal District has given themselves a makeover by dropping their perceived affiliation with the Cherokee County Tax Assessor Collector’s office and changing their name. Not to be confused with the thieves in the Cherokee County courthouse, as of 2024 CCAD will be referred to as “Cherokee Central Appraisal District.” (Source: Jacksonville Progress, Feb. 2, 2024)
Tax Assessor Collector clerk Gina Upshaw, indicted for stealing more than $430K – CBS19
An internal audit of Cherokee County offices and departmental accounts revealed a discrepancy of $431,375.91 related to the tax office. (Source: Audit reveals over $430,000 missing from county tax office, July 12, 2022, Daily Progress)
With $430,000 stolen out of the Cherokee County Tax Office, and the former Tax Assessor bookkeepers’ embezzlement trial coming up in April, the Cherokee County Appraisal District board has voted to remove the word “County” from their official title. Other municipal facilities and parks have also dropped the “County” name from their Cherokee County designations. They don’t want to be associated with the other maniacal elitist turds running the place into the ground. Those appealing any Cherokee County Appraisal District decisions will still contend with the Review Board’s allies in the District Court.
Thou doth protest thou property taxes too much
County judges and commissioners don’t pay squat for their hundred acre homesteads. Those taxpayers who reside elsewhere and use their Cherokee County property for agricultural and recreational purposes pay the brunt of the county revenue that goes “missing.” The Cherokee County Appraisal District board of directors have blamed farm exemptions on skyrocketing property taxes, sanctioned their appointed Chief Appraiser to undervalue commercial property in millions of dollars to be passed on as “delinquent” school taxes, cheated the City of Jacksonville out of hundreds of thousands of dollars in tax revenue; and forced their Section 8 rental properties’ back taxes onto rural landowners. They pretend to be ignorant on how property values are certified with the State, offering conflicting numbers on tax roll levies to hide what they’re doing. The name has changed, but are things really the same?
Local senator votes to impeach Texas AG on trumped up charges
Jacksonville’s Robert Nichols joined in the sham impeachment by voting against Texas voters.
The Texas State GOP controlled both chambers of the 88th Legislature’s regular session ( Jan. 10 through May 29, 2023). Instead of dealing with illegal immigration and fentanyl pouring across the open southern border, lowering property taxes; and keeping children safe in schools, a faction of alcoholic RINOs in the Texas House led by Speaker Dade Phelan (Beaumont) used the session as a coup against the duly elected Attorney General Ken Paxton. Paxton beat George P. Bush overwhelmingly during the 2022 primary run-offs. Boo-Hoo.
Not a single shred of evidence was presented in the 16 articles of impeachment- the same talking points created by the Bush/Rove team and picked up by the media to smear their political opponents. Democrat run newspapers continue the farce of “Paxon’s legal troubles…” They even paid Paxton’s other Republican challenger Louie Gohmert, who had a snowball’s chance in hell becoming Texas’ Attorney General, to pretend it was real. The goal is to have Joe Biden’s DOJ railroad Ken Paxton out of office, opening the door for George P. & Associates, because they can’t win a fair election.
Ever wonder why nothing ever gets done in Washington DC or Austin?
The RINO class always sides against what is best for Texans. And unfortunately, factions of the Texas government along with former East Texas Congressman Louie Gohmert take their marching orders from the politically defunct members of the Bush dynasty.
The KISS ASS Party is united undermining the conservative agenda.
Congress is a whorehouse and the Texas House of Representatives is a drunken frat house. They don’t give a rat’s ass about what’s best for Texas and line up like lemmings for the Bush family. Jacksonville’s Robert Nichols showed his loyalty by voting on the record that Paxton was guilty of make-believe crimes that could never be proven. Kelly Hancock (Fort Worth) was the other Republican State Senator to vote to remove Paxton on concocted charges.
Looking forward to the primaries.
State Senators Nichols and Hancock voted with Democrats to remove Ken Paxton. Both these esteemed Republicans knew the hearsay they voted to impeach on was patently false, yet they did so anyway, even after voting to dismiss four of the charges. Both are up for reelection in 2026, counting on their hometown media to cover up their constituents being stabbed in the back. Paxton’s innocence gives them that much more access to out-of-state lobbyists at the public trough.
Only two Republicans crossed the aisle to vote in favor of conviction: Kelly Hancock of North Richland Hills, who voted to impeach Paxton on 12 articles, and Robert Nichols of Jacksonville, who voted to impeach Paxton on 11 articles. (Source: Texas Tribune, Sept. 16, 2023)
“A senate trial is something you just wouldn’t understand…”
Nichols voted Yea Jeb! on Article 5 involving a grand jury investigation conducted by a State appointed prosecutor looking into federal law enforcement’s alleged misconduct. After being raided by the FBI, Paxton donor and Austin real estate investor Nate Paul claimed a cabal of area businessmen tied to George P. Bush had forced his properties into foreclosure and into a rigged federal bankruptcy court. Even though Paul had lost no money, Paxton agreed to look into it. Kelly Hancock voted for Article 8 regarding the alleged pay-offs of whistleblower complaints against the State (that were delegated to Paxton’s staff and the legislature ). No witness testimony detailing wrongdoing was introduced into evidence, including a no-show of Paxton’s so-called paid “mistress.”
You can bet everyone in Ken Paxton’s circle is being electronically monitored by the “granite countertop” police.
Whenever AG Paxton did his job, Bush loyalists accused him of a crime. Once under oath, House prosecutors’ and their witness’ litany of conjecture and lies crumbled under simple cross examination. House Impeachment Managers even convinced a retired Texas Ranger to make a fool out of himself on the stand, hoping to give their horseshit some gravitas. They made the whole thing up.
“Look at me… I’m not a lying piece of shit.”
After millions of tax dollars wasted, the duly elected Texas Attorney General was acquitted on all 16 articles of impeachment. Primaried House Republicans who voted to have a sham trial in the senate will claim “they just needed to see the [non-existent] evidence” they were told “was overwhelming…” Meanwhile, actual corruption and nepotism is ignored by those who owe their political careers to the dwindling influence of the Bush/Cheney clan in Crawford, TX. They invest in wide open border policies to keep the familial money flowing in their anti-American get rich schemes. Wonder where all those millions of illegal aliens crossing the border wind up?
Coming to a town near you.
“Why Colony Ridge Should Serve As A Warning To The Rest Of The Nation” – US Rep Brian 10/5/23
Any voter wondering why their communities are overrun with crime and drugs can simply look at the shysters they put in office. Ever heard of the illegal alien haven Colony Ridge? The 50-square miles of investment real estate in Robert Nichols’ southern most senatorial district he helped finagle? In 2017, Nichols squeezed in “local and uncontested” legislation to allow Colony Ridge land developers to give “owner financed” home loans to tens of thousands of illegal aliens. (Source: HB 4341, 2017) Now the Mexican drug cartels have overrun the Liberty County school districts with drugs and overwhelmed municipal services with an estimated 50,000 plus new unvetted residents. Closer to home, Robert Nichols has the lowest conservative rating of every Republican in the Texas State Senate.
As usual, it’s all a big fat lie.
Bottom line is Robert Nichols is an uppity part-time con artist raised in East Texas good ol’ boy subterfuge. It’s exciting to be part of a clandestine clique, like George Walker Bush back in the old CIA days. Nichols enjoys the back-room double-dealing as much as the shrimp cocktail dinners he attends. He is cut from the same cloth as other two-faced RINOs who take credit for all the pro-Life bills that get passed, while holding them up in committee and voting against them. He gets to fool everybody back home. And that is exactly what the idiots who put him in office want. Come election season, local newspapers will claim Senator Nichols “shares our conservative East Texas values,” while in reality he routinely sides with liberal Democrats and against basic Judeo-Christian principles. The leftist Texas Tribune agrees:
At the least conservative end of the GOP ideological spectrum is a single senator, Robert Nichols of Jacksonville. Nichols has a Lib-Con Score that is significantly less conservative than those of 17 of his 18 Republican colleagues. (Analysis: The 2023 Texas Senate, from right to left, Texas Tribune- June 21, 2023)
Local paper chums up pedophile cop
Officer Seth Vanover hauled in for catfishing kids.
A recent outdoors section of the Jacksonville Progress highlighted Longview police officer and fishing guide Seth Vanover’s passion for casting off in the Lake Fork reservoir in North East Texas. The contributing feature is from Carbon TV www.carbontv.com, an online video channel for recreational outdoorsmen. The article was published in May 2022 and picked up by local newspapers. Vanover was arrested a few months later for using social messaging apps to entice an 11-year-old child in Florida to engage in sex. He was also busted with child porn on the cellphone he carried around in his patrol car.
This past week, I joined my long time friend guide Seth Vanover and nephew [B.P.] (retired guide) for a few hours of red hot shallow water channel catfish catching at Lake Fork. This was not my first time to partake of this annual fishing fiesta and definitely not Seth’s. Each year about this time, we set aside a morning to fish together when the fish are up in very shallow pockets, feeding on spawning shad and worms and insects washed into the lake from recent rainfall… (Source: Cats under a cork, May 12, 2022 Daily Progress)
To Catch a Predator: Kids under a cork
Lt. Seth Vanover was netted in October 2022 during an out of state FBI sting. While local newspapers celebrated his promotion with the Longview Police Department, Vanover was chatting it up online with undercover federal agents in Florida posing as like-minded child sex predators.
[Vanover] resigned his position as a lieutenant with the Longview Police Department, used cellphones and personal computers (including hardware owned by the City of Longview) to use social media apps. While using those apps, based on chatlogs provided in the affidavit, it appears that Vanover believed he was speaking with adults who would let him perform sexual acts on their children. (Source: KSLA 12)
Vanover pleaded guilty in August 2023 and faces up to life in prison. From the Florida State Attorney press release:
Vanover confirmed that he was “into yung” and sent the agent several photos depicting child erotica as well as a photo of a nude adult male. Vanover and the undercover agent discussed the sexual experience of the purported 11-year-old “child,” and Vanover stated that he would “love to” meet them in Florida and would “love to be naked with” the “child.” Vanover and the agent engaged in more conversations on the app on August 8 and 10, 2022, and September 19, 2022, during which the two discussed meeting in Florida so that Vanover could engage in sexual activity with the “child.” Vanover confirmed with the agent that the “child” was “open to have sex,” discussed details of the sexual acts that Vanover intended to perform on the “child,” and directed the agent to “[t]alk to [the “child”] about the intended sexual activity.”
On October 12, 2022, FBI agents arrested Vanover at the Longview Police Department and Vanover resigned on that same day. Agents searched a patrol vehicle used by Vanover and recovered a cellphone that belonged to Vanover. A review of the phone revealed that it contained at least 230 videos and 130 photos depicting the sexual abuse of children, including infants, toddlers, and young children. This phone also contained sexually explicit online written communications that Vanover had with other app users, as well as child sexual abuse videos and photos that Vanover received during some of these conversations. (Source: United States Attorney’s Office Middle District of Florida)
No comment from Vanover’s superiors or East Texas authorities on how he was spending his time on duty.
The Jacksonville Progress did not know the “tour guide” in their May 12, 2022 edition was fishing for sex with little girls, while simultaneously showing off his own preschool son at the lake. However, they did venture out of their comfort zone to publish multiple puff pieces about a Longview police officer up in North East Texas to aggrandize him throughout the region. Each article dating back to 2016 was written for local consumption, courtesy of his best friend, a contributing outdoor sports writer in the area with ties to small town newspapers. The children’s whereabouts in Vanover’s personal kiddie porn collection have not been released.
As a footnote, on Wednesday, Dec 20, 2023, Officer Seth Vanover was sentenced to 12 years and 11 months in federal prison, probated to 15-years supervision as a life-time registered sex offender. (Source: U.S. Attorney’s Office, Middle District of Florida)
According to court documents obtained by the Longview News-Journal, a man, who was identified as Vanover, had conversations with two undercover FBI agents via social media that show he wanted to have sex with a 9-year-old and an 11-year-old girl. The app was also reached on devices registered to the city of Longview.
Vanover admitted to trying to persuade, induce, entice or coerce an 11-year-old girl to having sex using communication on cell phones and Internet devices.
A conversation from July 2022 show messages from a different FBI agent and an account called “jattleson.” The account “jattleson” was interested in meeting the agent’s girlfriend’s 11-year-old daughter.
At one point in the messages, the agent asks how old “jattleson” is. The user says 44 and then sends a photo a nude man standing in front of a bathroom mirror, the document detailed.
The man behind the “jattleson” account said he’s always wanted to have sex with a girl. Through a subpoena, the FBI learned the contact associated with that account was Seth Vanover and the city of Longview was the subscriber, according to the complaint.
Vanover was arrested on Oct. 12, 2022 at the Longview Police Department and he resigned the same day, On his cell phone in his patrol car, a search found 234 videos and 133 photos showing the sexual abuse of children, including infants, toddlers, and other young children, according to the Department of Justice.
Officials also found sexually explicit online communications that Vanover had with other app users, as well as child sexual abuse videos and photos that Vanover asked for and received during some of these conversations. (Source CBS19)
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 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)
Murdering drug snitches turn state’s evidence – Part 1
Capital murder suspect Dylan Welch from Jacksonville, TX gets to live to tell his tale the way it was told to him.
New Summerfield, TX:
Friday February 3, 2023 – Cherokee County District Attorney Elmer Beckworth announced he would not be seeking the death penalty for Dylan Welch, one of the three defendants from the July 21, 2021 quadruple murder of four New Summerfield residents. (Source: CBS 19) Beckworth was able to flip his favorite of the three currently incarcerated homicide suspects by taking lethal injection off the table and getting the Dylan Welch defense team the most sober court appointed attorney on the Rusk square. Welch will be testifying against fellow drug informants Jesse Pawlowski and Billy Phillips, who both remain eligible for capital punishment. Until one of them admits to only driving the stolen getaway car. (Source: Prosecution will not seek death penalty for 1 of 3 Cherokee County quadruple homicide suspects, KETK)
Stolen 2017 Dodge Challenger (Source: Daily Progress)
Cherokee County DA office meets their murder case quota by releasing violent drug offenders.
From July, 2021 – Three career criminals in Jacksonville, TX have been arrested and charged with the capital murder of four residents in nearby New Summerfield, TX. The bodies of John Clinton, Jeff Gerla, Ami Hickey, and Amanda Barnes were found in a home in the 1600 block of Hwy 101 N. (Source: CBS 19) The three suspects have avoided past prosecution and tough sentencing by agreeing to be confidential informants for Cherokee County law enforcement. All three have been arrested and released for similar crimes in the last few years, despite being on Supervised Probation.
Left to Right : Jesse James Pawlowski age 20, Dylan Welch age 21, and Billy Dean Phillips age 37 (Source: KLTV)
Jesse Pawlowski and Dylan Welch both have probated burglary convictions buried in the 2nd Judicial District court; absconding sex offender Billy Phillips was arrested by Jacksonville Police and released 2 weeks prior to the killings. Pawlowski was reported to have been in an polyamorous relationship with two of the victims. The Cherokee County Sheriff Department issued a statement concluding the killings resulted in a dispute over “guns and clothes,” not mentioning the extensive drug use and stolen 2017 Dodge Challenger that led to their arrests. Sheriff Dickson’s version of events excluded that all three had been in and out of Cherokee County custody while escalating their crime sprees. (Source: KETK)
Cherokee County’s chickens come home to roost
It is Cherokee County’s policing policy to catch and release drug addicts and violent criminals to bolster their counterfeit crime statistics for federal funding.
Prison ministries are used by the District Attorney’s office to recruit sex offenders to sit on Cherokee County jury pools. Local drug addicts are shuffled into worthless treatment programs so the State can be hourly billed for nonexistent rehabilitation. They get arrested and re-arrested all the time but very rarely see the inside of a courtroom. Friendly neighborhood potheads who could easily be picked up at the Treatment Center for failing their urinalysis, often get their parties crashed by the Po Po during election cycles. Resident crackheads are caught and released with no bail to encourage them to escalate their crime sprees. What results is a show of force by small town police units for news cameras, while chicken shit prosecutors pretend to enforce the law.
Police tank vs. mobile home
Jacksonville, TX : 1/17/23 SWAT standoff with resident drug addicts hiding a stolen gun (Source: Barricaded man taken into custody by SWAT team in Cherokee County, KETK)
Lionel Charles, Jr. is such a threat to SWAT, they released him 4 times in 2022 without setting bail.
Lionel Joseph Charles Jr. , 34, was arrested for drug possession and released WITH NO BOND in Cherokee County on four separate occasions in the last year alone. On January 17, 2023, he barricaded himself in a mobile home during a SWAT raid in Jacksonville, TX. Prior to that he had been arrested and released on multiple marijuana, crack cocaine, theft, and credit card abuse charges.
Lionel Charles has been in and out of drug offenders programs, courtesy of Cherokee County taxpayers and the 2nd Judicial District Court.
Criminal Docket Case 20217 ; FORGERY FINANCIAL INSTRUMENT ELDERLY
THE STATE OF TEXAS vs CHARLES, LIONEL JOSEPH JR
Filed 10/24/2016 – Disposition: 01/19/2017 Deferred adjudication
2nd District Court, Cherokee County, Texas
Criminal Docket Case 20218 ; UNAUTH USE OF VEHICLE
THE STATE OF TEXAS vs CHARLES, LIONEL JOSEPH JR
Filed 10/24/2016 – Disposition: 01/17/2017 Deferred adjudication
2nd District Court, Cherokee County, Texas
Criminal Docket; Case 20219 ; POSS CS PG 1 <1G
THE STATE OF TEXAS vs CHARLES, LIONEL JOSEPH JR
Filed 10/24/2016 – Disposition: 01/19/2017 Deferred adjudication
2nd District Court, Cherokee County, Texas
Criminal Docket; Case 21256 ; CREDIT CARD OR DEBIT CARD ABUSE
THE STATE OF TEXAS vs CHARLES, LIONEL JOSEPH JR
Filed 09/12/2019 – Disposition: 11/06/2019 Conviction-guilty plea or nolo cont-no jury
2nd District Court, Cherokee County, Texas
Criminal Docket; Case 22188 ; UNKNOWN
THE STATE OF TEXAS vs CHARLES, LIONEL JOSEPH JR
Filed 08/29/2022 – Disposition:
2nd District Court, Cherokee County, Texas
Cherokee County releases drug addicts and thieves without bond so they can be followed around town.
Jail records prove Lionel Charles was released unconditionally on his own recognizance (OR) the last four times he was busted, so he could reoffend and lead authorities to the next neighborhood crack house sting. This most recent Jan. 17, 2023 raid was conducted by the Jacksonville Police Department; a stolen firearm and other property were recovered without incident. Jacksonville resident Patrick Long was also arrested for the Gun Theft. (Source: Officials identify suspect involved in SWAT standoff in Cherokee County, KLTV)
Patrick Ryan Long, aka “Junior”, “Big Bad Wolf,” and “Fat Pat” 1/17/23
“Hurry up and go steal something, boy!”
Patrick Long had just been released on theft charges back in September 2022 with no recorded Bond. Despite multiple arrests by Jacksonville PD, many of his charges have never been prosecuted by the district attorney. The county gets to bill for similar suspects’ never-ending substance abuse rehab, who dons such colorful nicknames for the staff.
09/16/2022 -THEFT PROP >= $2,500 < $30K; released no Bond
09/16/2019 – Terroristic threat against family member; Bond: $2500
06/19/2019 – Assault family violence; Bond: $2000
03/08/2019 – Assault Class C; released no Bond
09/13/2018 – Burglary Of Habitation; bond: $30000
08/02/2018 – Assault Peace Officer/ Resist arrest; Bond: $22000
01/08/2018 – Assault Peace Officer/ Resist arrest / threaten family violence; Bond: $22000
09/30/2016 – Discharge of firearm in city limits; citation
04/06/2016 – Terroristic threat; Bond: $1500
07/03/2015 – POSS MARIJ < 2OZ; Bond: $1000
09/04/2010 – charges reduced to Class C misdemeanor
09/13/2006 – POSS MARIJ < 2OZ; Bond: $750
04/21/2004 – Disorderly conduct/ Drug Paraph/ Traffic exhibition accel – released
(Courtesy: texas.arrests.org)
As a footnote, another violent drug spree with hostages and SWAT took place Tuesday, January 24, 2023 in southern Cherokee County. Three local drug addicts with long criminal histories were arrested for attempting to kidnap residents in a trailer park north of Wells, according to Tyler based media. (Source: 3 arrested in alleged kidnapping, assault in Wells, KETK)
Alice Hayes, Wesley Wallace, and Chad Campbell (courtesy KETK)
Alice Hayes and Wesley Wallace were charged with aggravated kidnapping w/deadly weapon; Chad Campbell was charged for drug possession. The three suspects live in the Wells, TX community. (Source: KLTV) Cherokee County newspapers remain silent on the incident.
Such a safe place to raise a family. (Source KLTV)
Stolen: over $430,000 from Cherokee County tax office (and they won’t report who did it)
They won’t tell you who stole $431,375 out of the Cherokee County, TX courthouse over a 5 year period.
Every wonder why your property taxes keep going through the roof each year? It was quietly reported in July 2022 that the Texas Rangers were investigating the disappearance of over $430,000 in funds from the Cherokee County, TX Tax Assessor-Collector’s office. (Source: Funds missing from Cherokee County tax office, KLTV) After all the hemming and hawing with the County Appraisal District’s property tax shortfalls, even blaming “clerical data entry mistakes,” there is a simple reason why the county tax roll levy doesn’t match what is reported to the State Comptroller. (Source: Jacksonville council calls for chief appraiser’s removal, Jacksonville Progress)
County commissioners gear up to sue courthouse thief before their unnamed coworker is charged. Or will she ever be charged?
Will she be indicted by her cousins at all? After several forensic audits, $431,375.91 was confirmed stolen between 2015 and 2021 by an elected official in the Cherokee County Tax Assessor’s Office. Instead of publishing the name of the former Cherokee County official responsible for the missing money, the Cherokee County Commissioners Court is suing the unnamed female embezzler in Civil Court with the help of Tyler based attorneys Flowers Davis PLLC. (Source: County leaders to pursue civil suit in tax office theft case, Cherokeean)
In 2021, an internal audit of the Tax Assessor’s Office revealed county documents did not match what was reported to the state comptroller, said the Cherokeean.
Another audit was conducted by an outside company, and they also found there was an inconsistency and that $431,375.91 was missing, said officials. This was allegedly taken between 2015 and 2021 by an employee who had worked for the county for several years, according to the Cherokeean. (Source: Cherokee County Commissioners Court votes to begin civil suit after money stolen from county tax office, KETK)
Cherokee County Commissioner’s Court “…we’re gonna get that money back from her, but we ain’t gonna tell you who stole it…” (Courtesy: Jacksonville Progress)
Putting the cart before the horse.
With countywide elections around the corner, County Commissioners are eager to appear on top of the $430,000 stolen out from under their noses. They’ve announced a lawsuit against a still unnamed and unindicted defendant who is apparently related to members on the last two sitting 2022 Grand Juries. This gives the District Attorney’s office time to wrangle with the thief’s cousins behind closed doors before a potential trial jury is hand-picked and a she is offered a settlement. Of course local media doesn’t question the bass-ackwards civil suit against an undisclosed former county employee who hasn’t been charged with an actual crime. In the interim you are to assume a low level courthouse clerk is capable of doctoring the books of nearly half a million dollars reported to the State Comptroller. They wouldn’t lie to you…
Friends in low places
Will Elmer Beckworth recuse himself?
The “investigation” into the missing $430,000 began in January 2022; it was hidden from the public for 7 months until being leaked to the press in July 2022. It’s been over a year since the initial audit confirmed the stolen $430,000 and there are no reports of any criminal charges being filed by good friend Cherokee County District Attorney Elmer Beckworth who works in the same building as the thief. As does Chris Davis and the entire Commissioners Court. She always brought cookies for everyone…
Gina Upshaw, (4th from the left) et al are lauded with their 15-year service awards, circa 2019 (Jacksonville Progress).
“Just pay back what you can and don’t talk to nobody…”
Missing vs. Stolen
Audit reveals over $430,000 missing from county tax office, July 13, 2022- Jacksonville Progress
An internal audit of Cherokee County offices and departmental accounts revealed a discrepancy of $431,375.91 related to the tax office.
“Red flags were discovered by my internal auditor in doing a routine part of the audit that initially drew our attention to this,” said Cherokee County Auditor Steven Daughety. “We did do an audit report. Those findings were turned over to the D.A. because of our concerns with it.”
The information was presented to the district attorney on January 12, 2022, according to Daughety.
District Attorney Elmer Beckworth confirmed only that the Texas Rangers were investigating the matter and that, if the missing amount is proven, the offense would be considered a felony. When questioned about the forensic auditor Daughety said was retained, Beckworth would only speak in generalities, stating the hire of a forensic auditor in such cases would be standard procedure. (Source: Daily Progress, July 13, 2022)
Where are the feds and the Attorney General?
Cherokee County voters are supposed to remain in the dark while their tax dollars are embezzled in the Rusk courthouse. Imagine the response in neighboring Smith County (with a population and budget 5 times the size of Cherokee County) if a mere $4500 went missing from the county tax rolls. The suspected official’s name and face would be all over the 6 o’clock news. Commissioners jumping the gun with a civil suit, before a criminal case has been made by the District Attorney’s office, portends the Dog & Pony Show leading up to the May election cycle. Local media does not make the correlation between hiding the identity of government thieves and their incentive to keep stealing. Obviously, they’re all in on it.
Footnote 6/2/23: Gina Upshaw, 62 from Rusk TX was formerly indicted by a Cherokee County grand jury for stealing $431,375.91 from taxpayers during her tenure as Tax Assessor bookkeeper. Of course, no one in the Rusk courthouse has ever met her, or laid eyes on her. They do hope you enjoy your ever increasing property tax hikes (Source: Cherokee County tax office bookkeeper indicted for theft, money laundering, KETK).
Gina Upshaw, was employed for 18 years at the Rusk courthouse with the County Clerk’s office, and later handpicked by the Commissioners Court as the Cherokee County Tax Assessor Collector Bookkeeper. (courtesy KETK)
DPS hides identity of hostage taker with prior convictions
Another weekend, another hostage standoff with a resident drug snitch disturbing the peace after violating probation. Another cover up lead by the local chapter of the Texas Rangers when they don’t want the public to know the facts. Area authorities have no problem telling the obedient East Texas media who to report on, and who not to, after polishing their Rogues Gallery of busted criminals each week.
In the 2nd Judicial District Court of Texas:
- Burglary and Armed Robbery = 2 years adjudicated probation
- Domestic Violence and Bodily Injury = 6 months probation
- Holding your family hostage and getting shot by SWAT in your own front yard = no grand jury
- An anonymous ride to the emergency room with police escort = priceless
According to the DPS, the 911 hostage suspect is so dangerous he needs to remain anonymous. (Courtesy: KETK)
Carl Phillips, head of Cherokee County Probation and convicted child molester.
Each week for over 30 years, Cherokee County newspapers lavished praise and adoration on a resident pedophile grooming his way up the ladder to Director of the Probation Department. They reported Carl Phillip’s post-retirement conviction for stealing from the county, then ceased when he was busted for child molestation. Hiding crimes is nothing new to them, especially when it makes the county look bad. The most recent hostage situations and drug related homicides in the county are prime examples of them misleading the public.
Even though last week’s shooting of the armed suspect threatening his family and law enforcement was justifiable by all accounts, the DPS won’t be disclosing the suspect’s prior convictions. There are mandatory minimal sentencing requirements under State law that for some reason, Cherokee County’s District Attorney loves to ignore. Such as Burglary and Armed Robbery sentences of only 2 years concurrent probation. Plea deals of Domestic Violence / Bodily Injury result in 6-month probation sentences in the 2nd Judicial District Court when defendants are recruited by District Attorney investigators to snitch on fellow drug users.
Criminal Docket Case 10715 : BURGLARY OF BUILDING
Filed 07/20/1988 – Disposition: 02/08/1989 Deferred adjudication
2nd District Court, Cherokee County, Texas
Criminal Docket Case 11359 : AGGRAVATED ROBBERY
Filed 08/29/1990 – Disposition: 01/29/1991 Conviction-guilty plea or nolo cont-no jury, Deferred adjudication
2nd District Court, Cherokee County, Texas
Criminal Docket Case 14031 : THEFT PROP>=$1,500<$20K
Filed 06/28/1999 – Disposition: 07/31/2001 Deferred adjudication
2nd District Court, Cherokee County, Texas
Filed 06/03/2013 – Disposition: 12/11/2013 Deferred adjudication
2nd District Court, Cherokee County, Texas
Lazy prosecutors making deals with habitual criminals knowingly leads to escalated violence against the public and law enforcement.
Suspect’s name withheld indefinitely after being shot during standoff. (Courtesy: KLTV)
This guy’s name also won’t be on the lips of the upcoming Grand Jury as long as the suspect’s family doesn’t sue the Jacksonville Police Department for shooting him in the ass. Daddy will be released on minimum bail courtesy of taxpayers, and back home soon if he agrees to continue using his John Doe alias around town. And stop calling 911 when he’s beating his wife unconscious in front of the kids.
To Catch a Predator, Cherokee County, TX edition.
One day earlier on Friday, November 25, 2022 another Jacksonville, TX resident with priors was arrested for Attempted Kidnapping and Aggravated Assault. Ledarrious Grady, 31 is currently being held on a $75,000 bond. Grady did not call 911 or cause a SWAT situation like the suspect who was shot and released the following day. Grady is black so he doesn’t get a Get Out of Jail Free Card. (Source: Jacksonville man arrested for alleged aggravated assault, kidnapping, KETK)
Ledarrious Grady, Jacksonville TX
12/8/2022 : As a footnote, the wounded suspect has been released from UT Health -Jacksonville, booked in Cherokee County jail and waiting on his momma to come get him. Lucky for him, he shares a cellblock with former ETMC ER doctor Karl Kauffman, facing additional charges of molesting his kids.
Dr. Karl Kauffman, UT Health (Source: Medical Board suspends license of doctor accused of molesting child, Lufkin Daily News)
1/22/2023: Ledarrious Deshun Grady, 31 was arrested again for DUI while out on bail for his previous ASSAULT and KIDNAPPING charges in Cherokee County back in early December. Just keep on keepin’ on.
Ledarious Grady, Jacksonville TX, 1/22/2023
Paroled drug snitch holds family hostage; Jacksonville Police Chief steps down
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
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 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.
Alto ISD manipulates enrollment, gets UIL suspension; Property tax disasters postponed
It’s better to be a big fish in a small pond.
County Judge Chris Davis’ alma mater is currently under a 3 year UIL probationary suspension for misreporting the number of students in attendance. Alto ISD football had been playing with the big boys in the 2A- Division I for several years. In 2021, they dropped themselves down to Division II after a long losing streak.
2A Division I: 165.5 – 229 students
2A Division II: 105 – 165.4 students
(Source: UIL)
On Aug 2, 2022, UIL ruled unanimously Alto High School football ineligible for playoffs for 2 years, and on probation for 3 years. They don’t have a thousand kids to keep track of; there are less than 167 enrolled students per conference cutoffs.
The vote comes after violations of conference based enrollment reporting. The UIL said the Alto, TX school district turned in enrollment numbers that were not accurate and affected Alto in realignment which moved them into conference 2A-II instead of conference 2A-I. (Source: KLTV)
This is only newsworthy to regional football teams, however it is yet another example of the systemic flipping of facts of practically everything that comes out of Cherokee County. And the padding of enrollment numbers to get into a larger state football conference and the dropping of a few to get into a more competitive one when things don’t work out. It is reported that the UIL Committee realigned Alto ISD because of an alleged “error” involving three late enrolled students. The football team has been playing the 2021-2022 season in the lower ranked 2A Division II.
The Jacksonville Progress reports the UIL was alerted by two former employees that Alto ISD deliberately misrepresented enrollment numbers to remain in its winning football conference.
An allegation by two former Alto Independent School District employees, one of which resigned and the other terminated — was submitted to the UIL earlier this year stating that the district had undercounted it students on Snap Shot Day (Oct. 30, 2021).
The UIL investigation revealed that the district’s 163 number did not include three students who began class in the district on Oct. 19-20, 2021. These students were officially reported as being enrolled in the district on Nov. 1, 2021.
Dr. Jamey Harrison of the UIL reminded everyone that schools were sent a Snap Shot Verification form on Nov. 16, 2021, so that corrections could be made to the number submitted if needed.
Alto officials signed off on the form, confirming that the original number sent in was correct. (Source: UIL Executive Committee rules Alto football ineligible for district awards, Jacksonville Progress Aug. 2, 2022)
The fact the Alto ISD superintendent blames the high school counselor and principal for the SNAFU tells you exactly who is running this train.
Property owners get railroaded with defaulted school taxes.
Texas school districts are funded from county property taxes and directly from the state. As of 2022, each district receives an allotment of $6100 per student each year. Federal funding is also distributed based upon need and attendance. After years of misappropriations, reporting has ceased on how delinquent school taxes are resolved after being passed on to property owners. To date, state government watchdogs have overlooked this reverse Robin Hood. They know if they start asking questions, so called “conservative” Cherokee County and neighboring counties would flip to Democrat in a New York minute. They’d rather watch the place implode.
One disaster after another.
Jacksonville and Rusk school districts voted to increase property taxes to cover their combined $1.7 million tax deficits, to avoid being penalized by the Texas Comptroller’s Office. Commercial real estate appraisals came in 15% lower than actual market values, according to MAPS audits conducted by the State in 2018 and 2019. (Source: Cherokee County Appraisal District fails state property study, Daily Progress Feb. 13, 2020) Timber and agricultural exemptions in rural areas were blamed for CCAD’s tax shortfalls, not the commercial and Section 8 rental properties of board members.
Cherokee County TX Chief Appraiser: “This is insane.”
Cherokee County blames the Tax Code for devaluing the property of those controlling the purse strings, and passing costs onto those not in the clique. It’s just so “confusing and unfair” according to Chief Appraiser Lee Flowers who Jacksonville City Council recently voted unanimously to remove from office for a $5 million tax “mistake.” The CCAD Board of Directors who own a big chunk of property in the area of course voted to keep Flowers on the county payroll.
The Jacksonville city council called for the removal of Cherokee County Chief Appraiser Lee Flowers in May 2021 over pending litigation from conflicting numbers on an amended tax roll levy.
City Manager Greg Smith stated the city had lost $200,000 in tax revenue as a result of the difference in original tax levies Flowers deemed “clerical data entry mistakes.” (Source: Jacksonville Progress May 15, 2021)
(Click to view)
The Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts has done “limited scope” property tax appraisal audits since the 2018 failures, thanks to County Judge Chris Davis and Governor Greg Abbott declaring Cherokee County a disaster area right in time to cleverly circumvent in-depth biennial MAPS reviews. Never forget, as Attorney General, Greg Abbot’s office also did not pursue criminal charges against those who robbed Lon Morris out of existence, Texas’ oldest Junior College. Offended locals would jump party lines if their kinfolk were exposed manipulating enrollment and Financial Aid. They were such good stewards of your tax dollars and public trust funds. Keep forking it over, folks. You know you love it.
Everyone gets good marks during election year.
They also hope you forget about the $431,375.91 stolen out of the Cherokee County Tax Assessor-Collector’s office. Stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars each year out of the Rusk, TX courthouse apparently doesn’t get the attention of the governor or Attorney General.
Funds missing from Cherokee County tax office – July 12, 2022
RUSK, Texas (KLTV) – Texas Rangers are investigating the disappearance of funds from the tax office in Cherokee County.
District Attorney Elmer Beckworth said the office notified him about missing funds and he forwarded the case to Texas Rangers.
Beckworth said he could not comment further on time periods or how much money was missing.
The county auditor’s office deferred comment to Beckworth. (Source: KLTV)
Audit reveals over $430,000 missing from county tax office – July 13, 2022
An internal audit of Cherokee County offices and departmental accounts revealed a discrepancy of $431,375.91 related to the tax office.
“Red flags were discovered by my internal auditor in doing a routine part of the audit that initially drew our attention to this,” said Cherokee County Auditor Steven Daughety. “We did do an audit report. Those findings were turned over to the D.A. because of our concerns with it.”
The information was presented to the district attorney on January 12, 2022, according to Daughety. (Source: Jacksonville Progress)
Governor Abbott blames Biden for dead migrants smuggled by Palestine, TX truck driver
Somebody has to pluck the chickens, bale the hay, and milk the cows. Those hired ranch hands are illegal aliens shipped into Anderson County and surrounding areas by the thousands. They plant the saplings in the National Forests for timber companies and clean the homes of the wealthy. Their employers are large property owners in East Texas and Greg Abbott’s campaign donors. The truck drivers who haul them in from the Southern border and up to the local dairy farms are resident CDL operators, living in the friendly Ol’ Piney Woods. This isn’t “human trafficking;” it is cheap seasonal labor facilitated by both Republicans and Democrats.
“We’ve tried nothing and we’re all out of ideas…”
In April, Gov. Greg Abbott ordered state police to inspect every commercial vehicle entering Texas through a port of entry. To immigration experts, Abbott’s mandatory commercial vehicle inspection had little to no effect on the flow of illegal immigrants from Mexico into Texas.
Despite Abbott’s attempted immigration security measures, earlier this week and 200 miles from the border in San Antonio, 53 undocumented workers perished in a tractor trailer that made its way from Mexico on Interstate 35 through multiple federal immigration checkpoints. No inspection was performed on the rig or it’s cargo contents.
Before the vigil candles were lit, Governor Abbott hopped on Twitter to blame Joe Biden’s open border policies, despite several of President Trump’s immigration protocols including Title 42 still being in effect. (Source: Greg Abbott blames Joe Biden for migrant deaths, but the governor’s own border security efforts have fallen short KHOU)
One of the smugglers is Palestine, TX resident Christian Martinez. Martinez and 3 other migrant couriers were arrested and held on federal detainers Monday, June 27, 2022. (Source: Mugshot released for man arrested in Palestine, charged in connection to San Antonio smuggling incident KETK) These drivers aren’t paid by coyotes or Mexican drug cartels to bring illegal aliens to their destinations. They are long haul truck drivers working for the lumber companies and Walmart distributors in East Texas. They are compensated by the chicken processing plants and cattle ranchers who line the pockets of those in Austin. They are also paid by the illegal aliens themselves for the transport. Their big rigs and semitrailers aren’t checked by busy immigration authorities.
18-wheeler owner operator Christian Martinez lives in Palestine, TX (courtesy Henderson County)
Law enforcement doesn’t question the employers of deported illegal aliens who return to East Texas for work, even after they kill children. Local media misspells their names, buries their criminal histories, and most certainly never publish the names of those who hire and house them. (They also don’t report or withhold income taxes but that’s a subject for another topic.)
Gustavo Gonzalez murdered his 10-year cousin in Bullard, TX.
A previously deported illegal alien has pleaded guilty to strangling and drowning his ten-year-old cousin after attempting to sexually assault her in 2016 in Cherokee County, Texas. Source: (REPORT: East Texas Child Murdered by Previously Deported Illegal Alien, Breitbart)
Until Chamber of Commerce Republicans begin to arrest, shut down, and fine their donors who hire illegal aliens for cheap labor, tragedies such as these will continue. Who are we going to replace them with? Open border communist psychopaths like Beto O’Rourke? Governor Abbott will surely appoint some inbred crony to look into the immigration matter while Texans remain held hostage. Talk of actual immigration enforcement is just lip service from career politicians.
It’s easier to play both sides of the border fence.
As a footnote, both drivers have been indicted in the Western District Federal Court for the deaths of 53 smuggled illegal aliens. (Source: DOJ) Governor Abbott continues to bus detained illegal aliens deeper into the United States, preferably to Democrat controlled safe havens, where they can register to vote and swing Presidential elections. Authorities and media claim Christian Martinez of Palestine, TX is illiterate; however he isn’t too incompetent to help drive big rigs through federal checkpoints with 50 + illegal stowaways.
On Wednesday, August 31, 2022, the federal court in San Antonio declared during a detention hearing that Christian Martinez would be detained pending his trial. Previously reported as “too incompetent to stand trial,” text messages revealed Martinez was responsible for the transnational truck loading manifest that evaded immigration inspection. (Source: KETK) A federal judge denied bond for the 800lbs. truck driver, who is not a flight risk, though he could get stuck in the bathroom. The McDonald’s in Palestine, TX are safe for now.
Life sentence for Rusk, TX child molester the media reported as living in Carrollton, TX
Rusk, TX:
When Cherokee County child molesters are known by arresting agencies, their identities and residencies are lied about to news outlets. They lie about where the sex offender is employed, especially if the offender works at the County Jail and is petitioning the District Court for early supervised release. They can even get a County Judge to forge the name of the District Judge (by permission) on the sex offense release orders of a school nurse moonlighting at the jailhouse.
(Source: From School Nurse to Sex Offender, Jan 12, 2010 KLTV)
Rebecca Blankinship has gone from school nurse to convicted sex offender. She pleaded guilty in 2010 to sexually assaulting a 14 year-old female Rusk ISD student. The assault happened in 2009 while Blankinship was employed at Rusk ISD. Her sex offense probation was illegally scrubbed in 2013 by County Judge Craig Fletcher who did not consult prosecutors.
Officials don’t deny the District Judge’s signature on Rebecca Blankinship’s sex offense release order was written by former county court-at-law judge Craig Fletcher, even though BY LAW sex offense registry is for life and mandatory probation lengths are stipulated in the Texas Penal Code. (Source: Jacksonville Progress, Dec. 19, 2013)
Can’t have a sex offender checking on the well-being of the other sex offenders in jail, unless of course it’s the County Probation Department.
Carl Phillips, head of Cherokee County Probation Dept.
In 2019, Carl Phillips was sentenced to 50 years in prison after pleading guilty to the continuous sexual abuse of a child and to two probation revocation cases involving stealing from the county. Despite heading the Cherokee County Probation Department for over 35 years and being the longest serving Cherokee County employee on record, Phillips was simply referred to as “a man from Jacksonville” by Cherokee County newspapers. (Source: Former East Texas corrections director molested child for more than 18 months, KETK)
“Cherokee County sex offender gets life in prison…but he doesn’t live here….”
John Wesley Allen Jr., 57, is a longtime Cherokee County, TX resident according to his Voter Registration. He has been living at the end of the dirt road on DECHARD ST in RUSK, TEXAS since 2010. Allen was arrested in 2020 for the ongoing sex assault of a Rusk, TX child, when it was falsely reported he lived in the DFW area. Allen sat in the Cherokee County jail on $1 million bond for the last couple years; and was recently convicted in the 369th Judicial District Court and sentenced to life in prison with no parole. He did not accept a more lenient plea deal. (Source: Cherokee County man sentenced to life in prison for abuse of child, KETK) Some East Texas media reported the Big Fat Lie in the 369th District Court’s post trial brief that John Wesley Allen, Jr. lived in Carrollton, TX and not in Cherokee County. Is this really a case of some out-of-town child molester preying on kids in Rusk, TX and not a local predator endemic to the area?
They just want you to feel vested in your little community, and repeat the lies with them.
John Wesley Allen Jr. , somebody’s neighbor, friend, and co-worker.
No, this John Wesley Allen Jr. has lived and worked in Rusk, TX for decades where, according to trial testimony, he molested a child for years beginning when the kid was 6 years old. Allen did not drive back and forth from the Dallas area to continually molest the kids in his trailer park. He lives in Rusk because it is a haven for pedophiles who get summoned for jury duty. They can even get their criminal histories illegally expunged by the District and County Judges for what they consider “good behavior,” i.e. working at the County Jail and pretending they have an official jury summons. Why do they go out of their way to get the media to lie about where John Allen, Jr. lived while he molested kids in Rusk? Because they know him and worked with him for decades, just like they worked side-by-side “a man from Jacksonville” Carl Phillips for over 35 years. (Source: Jacksonville man sentenced to 50 years in prison for continuous child sexual abuse, CBS19) A Jacksonville man who only worked 35 years for Cherokee County as their longest serving and top Criminal Justice employee.
Former New Summerfield HS counselor charged with theft from local nonprofit
Nonprofit Embezzlement 101: who controls the money, steals the money.
Bullard, TX:
Unaccounted donations (not subject to federal income taxes) floating around are just too tempting for even licensed educators with Master’s Degrees. 46-year old academic advisor Misty Kathleen Adair was recently booked and released on $60K bond for stealing from the Youth For Agriculture Buyers Group. Adair is the volunteer account manager of the local 501(c)(3) nonprofit that provides grants and scholarships to high school students studying farm management. Her charges include theft of property and misappropriation of funds from the organization, both State felonies. (Source: KETK) Adair has worked with several East Texas school districts at the upper echelon for the last 20 years, including as New Summerfield ISD’s head counselor and sponsor for the district’s Honor Society volunteer fund raisers. (Source: Daily Progress) As predictable as the sun rising in the morning, Cherokee County news outlets neglect to report Misty Adair’s arrest and incarceration in neighboring Smith County, despite her employment at New Summerfield ISD. The Jacksonville Daily Progress reports all her school charity events, but not when she gets arrested for stealing. In fact, they try to scrub her employment history. What happens in a small town, stays in a small town, unless of course the crime occurs across the county line.
As a footnote, Misty Adair was arrested again by Henderson County authorities and booked in Smith County jail on June 17, 2022 for allegedly stealing from a second separate nonprofit organization. (Source: Bullard woman accused of theft, misapplying funds for a second organization, KETK)
On Thursday April 18, 2023, Misty Adair was sentenced in Smith County to 4 years probation + restitution after pleading guilty early in March to the theft of over $7000 from the Youth For Agriculture Buyers Group nonprofit. She was also indicted the same day in Henderson County for stealing $2000 from the same nonprofit’s Athens, TX office. (Source: Bullard woman sentenced to probation for theft from youth nonprofit, indicted for similar charge in Henderson County, KETK)
Aliases and Algorithms hide county sex offenders and parolees
Rusk, TX:
Cherokee County would like to thank the DPS and other agencies in helping them corner and kill a strung out parolee they released 6 weeks earlier for the same domestic violence / kidnapping charges he was arrested for the last half a dozen times he’s been in their custody.
Scott Anson Coe (deceased). Why do parole violators get released in Cherokee County after multiple violent crimes?
On the weekend of April 9, 2022, a hostage situation developed AGAIN in Rusk, TX involving another whacked out career criminal, his ex-wife, and another female victim held against her will. SWAT and neighboring police negotiating teams were deployed, and roads were closed for over 48 hours. The suspect Scott Anson Coe eventually released his hostages and killed himself in the wee morning hours; the Cherokee County Sheriff’s Department, intervening agencies, and local media did not immediately identify the deceased suspect who made national news barricading himself inside a mobile home. Their relationship to the paroled kidnapper and his bail release history hits too close to home.
Cherokee County authorities don’t release names of dead suspects until next of kin are notified, when authorities are the next of kin.
Another taxpayer funded crack binge gone sour.
Scott Anson Coe, 44 has been in and out of Cherokee County jail multiple times, most recently in February 2022 for aggravated kidnapping bodily injury (Source: Jacksonville Progress March 6, 2022). Previous charges spanning the last two years alone in Cherokee County include aggravated assault / family violence on 4 occasions, KIDNAPPING, possession of marijuana; and parole violations in Smith County. The Texas Rangers have been called to investigate the parolee’s suicide-by-cop during the standoff; details have not been released. Coe’s criminal background has also not been released. His catch-and-release incarceration spanning over 20 years throughout East Texas includes forgery, burglary, assault, evading arrest, and theft. Scott Coe was out on bond for kidnapping for the umpteenth time, when he kidnapped again.
“We don’t know why this crack head goes on kidnapping sprees after every time we release him for kidnapping and beating up his ex-girlfriends….we just can’t figure it out…”
In January 2022 this year, Cherokee County District Attorney Elmer Beckworth reduced possession of marijuana charges from 2019 against Scott Coe to a Class C Misdemeanor “Health and Safety Violation” despite the following concurrent arrests.
Scott Anson Coe was arrested in Cherokee County, TX for:
3/30/2020 – AGG KIDNAPPING BODILY INJURY ( Bond: $25000 )
3/31/2020 – AGG ASSAULT FAMILY VIOLENCE (Bond: $25000 )
7/20/2020 – AGG ASSAULT FAMILY VIOLENCE ENHANCED
– FELONY ESCAPE
– FAILURE TO IDENTIFY
– RESISTING ARREST
– PAROLE VIOLATION (BOND: $45000 )
12/20/2020 – AGG ASSAULT FAMILY VIOLENCE ENHANCED
– PAROLE VIOLATION (BOND: $25000)
2/28/2022 – AGG ASSAULT BODILY INJURY / KIDNAPPING (BOND: $25000 )
The fifth time’s the charm.
When violent child molesters and parolees on the county dole are arrested, reporting agencies misspell their names and bury their sex offender registrations. Rusk resident and lifetime sex offender registrant Juston Eric Shaw was charged in February 2022 for resisting arrest and attacking police officers, then released on bail. (Source: Jacksonville Progress) The Cherokee County District Attorney’s office loves their friendly neighborhood sex offenders racking up charges to the point they start killing people. Small town prosecutors need an easy murder quota to look like big shots in local newspapers. Why not use and discard their favorite drug snitch?
Juston Eric Shaw, sex offender out on bail after police scuffle.
UT Health Jacksonville ER physician Karl Kauffman from Troup, TX was identified as a random “East Texas doctor” after being busted for continually sexually abusing a child in Cherokee County. His credentials and history were immediately scrubbed from local hospital websites. Dr. Kauffman worked only in Jacksonville, TX and is the county’s only on-call emergency room surgeon. News articles of his arrest were post-dated to keep his underage sex crimes with his next of kin off the front page. Family Child Protective Services have intervened.
The public was not made aware of Dr. Kauffman’s child molestation arrest until a week after his incarceration, buried in East Texas news archives.
Kauffman’s professional license is currently suspended following his arrest according to the Texas Medical Board. (Source: KETK) The UT Health Center in Jacksonville, TX has since disavowed Dr. Kauffman’s employment, as has every other East Texas medical facility he was affiliated with, including the Nacogdoches Medical Center and Woodland Heights Medical Center in Lufkin. UT Health Tyler vehemently denies Dr. Kauffman was employed with their hospital “at the time of his arrest,” according to their spokesman. (Source: Tyler Paper)
Karl F. Kauffman, MD, 51, Troup TX works in Cherokee County and neighboring hospitals.
When pedophiles are called for jury duty, does Elmer Beckworth make them sit in the hallway when their own child molestation charges come up, or do they stay put during deliberations? Cherokee County judges don’t disqualify sex offenders, and the Tyler Court of Appeals rubber stamps it, so how does that work exactly? Do they flip a coin for who goes grab some snacks? The one who brings the best Girl Scout cookies gets No-Billed? Do they just wander around the Rusk courthouse until the DA investigator gives them a ride home at the end of the day?
Catch and Release sex offender kidnaps local man during drug binge
Timothy Andrew Gorko (Courtesy DPS)
Another strung out sex offender with nothing to lose, another slap on the wrist; another illegal gun, another local victim. Another drug dealer in and out of jail to snitch on his buddies; another day in Cherokee County, Texas.
This isn’t the first time Timothy Gorko has been arrested in Cherokee County for being a paroled felon with a gun. Gorko, age 37, is currently living in Rusk, Texas under Cherokee County sex offender supervision from a 2008 statutory rape conviction in Pennsylvania. He was charged last month in Montgomery County, Texas for dealing crystal meth in the Conroe area. Takes a lot of tobacco spit to keep up with this guy.
How does a paroled sex offender with multiple drug charges get released on bail?
Timothy Gorko, arrested 11/09/2021 for Possession with Intent to deliver a controlled substance (Courtesy Montgomery County).
Meanwhile, back at the crack house in Rusk, TX:
One month later on Monday 12/13/2021, the Cherokee County Sheriff Department was alerted Tim Gorko had shot at his girlfriend and another person during a domestic dispute. Before deputies arrived, Gorko forced one of his neighbors at gunpoint to drive him to Lufkin to evade arrest. After a high speed chase, he was apprehended by the Highway Patrol. Gorko was shot in the neck during the traffic stop and taken back to Rusk; the hostage driving the car was shaken but unharmed. Timothy Gorko is charged with aggravated assault, kidnapping, evading arrest, and of course, delivery of a controlled substance called crystal meth. (Source: KETK)
Cherokee County hides the identity of local sex offenders.
Police released the body cam footage of the incident, however Cherokee County and local media did not release Timothy Gorko’s extensive CRIMINAL HISTORY and SEX OFFENSE status. Gorko is a Lifetime Sex Offender. His supervision with the Cherokee County Sheriff’s Office began in 2012. He was officially released from parole in 2016 while he was actually incarcerated for violating his parole. Gorko was out on bond during this latest hostage standoff. Because he is a sex offender with a gun and multiple arrests, this story has dropped off the East Texas news boards.
(KETK)
Sweet deals keep a comin’ for violent sex offenders.
Timothy Gorko was on parole when he moved to East Texas. After settling into his new digs in Cherokee County, Timothy Gorko was arrested in 2015 for absconding his sex offender registration and charged with unlawful possession of a firearm by a felon. He pleaded no contest, sentenced to 2 years TDCJ, and released in 2018. (Source: Jacksonville Progress, “3 arrested during sex offender compliance check” Dec 11, 2015)
Timothy Gorko at age 31 circa 2015
Cherokee County Criminal Docket Case 19988
THE STATE OF TEXAS vs GORKO, TIMOTHY ANDREW
Filed 03/28/2016 – Unlawful Possession of Firearm by Felon
Disposition: 05/03/2016 Conviction-guilty plea or nolo cont-no jury
Anyone with two working brain cells knows this drug addict was constantly being monitored and his meth connections surveilled.
Gorko has been in and out of Cherokee County custody for drug possession and parole violations, making him the perfect Jail House snitch, until something goes wrong. And it usually does when drugs are involved. (Source: Jacksonville Progress, March 12, 2016) The District Clerk will have to strike Timothy Gorko’s name from the next jury pool headed to the courthouse basement.
The criminal justice system in Cherokee County Texas is there only to enrich the District Attorney, a small group of lawyers on the Rusk square, and a handful of people running the place into the ground. Law enforcement still operates in the lazy 1970’s, while their drug informants on the dole are getting more violent and more dangerous to the public. State Senators and Representatives, the FBI, and Texas Rangers all look the other way while those at the top of county government like Carl Phillips steal money and molest children for decades.
(Source: Former East Texas corrections director molested child for more than 18 months, KETK)
Crystal meth dealers and out of state sex offenders pour into the area because they know if they cooperate with authorities, they’ll be part of the clique.
In 2020, father and son Theodore Smith and James Smith moved from California to Cherokee County, TX because it is a safe haven for child molesters. They knew convicted pedophiles are called for jury duty and the District Judge’s signature was forged to release sex offenders. They thought if they ever got caught, they’d be in good company with the former head of the Cherokee County Probation Department who filmed and raped children. In October 2021, the two were arrested in their Alto, TX home after Sacramento law enforcement made a discovery on their California property of a horde of child pornography dating back decades. Theodore Smith was extradited back to California, charged with 34 counts of lewd acts with a child and his bond set at $7 million.
Two men arrested in Texas in connection with California child sexual assault case
Theodore Smith, 86, and his son James Smith, 62, who live in Alto, Texas, were arrested and are in custody awaiting extradition to California for their alleged involvement in the sexual assault of children, according to a news release.
The case leading to the arrests emerged in mid-March, when a Sacramento County resident who was renovating a recently purchased home discovered hundreds of images containing child pornography and children involved in sex acts, according to the news release.
Detectives who inspected the images believed the pictures were taken between 1985 and 1995 and were left behind by the previous residents of the home, who had moved to Texas the year prior.
On Wednesday, sheriff’s detectives assisted by two Texas sheriff’s offices and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security served a search warrant at a home in Cherokee County, Texas. After that, arrest warrants were issued for the two men. The elder Smith was arrested at home in Alto while his son was arrested while on a trip back to California, according to the news release. (Source: Sacramento Bee, Oct. 15, 2021)
(KETK)
County Judge’s assistant arrested for 3rd Degree Felony Tampering with Government Records and making false statements
Peggy Cornelius, Notary Public
County Judge’s office used in local Power of Attorney scheme.
Texas Penal Code § 37.10 – Tampering With Governmental Record (a) A person commits an offense if he or she: (1) knowingly makes a false entry in, or false alteration of, a governmental record; (2) makes, presents, or uses any record, document, or thing with knowledge of its falsity and with intent that it be taken as genuine.
Rusk, TX:
County Judge Chris Davis’ secretary and personal assistant has been busted for doing what long term county employees do best within their culture of corruption. Peggy Cornelius has worked in Cherokee County government since 1993 as Chris Davis’ handpicked administrator, running Commissioner’s Court agenda, and as the county’s software custodian. Their friends and family in the County Clerk’s office run Cherokee County’s election system. Cornelius received her 25 year service award in 2019, even though courthouse officials are gearing up to pretend they never saw her before. Kinfolk use their heir apparent positions to help themselves to taxpayer funds, like they’ve been doing for the last 30 plus years. Cornelius just got caught in her old age. Charges include tampering with government records, i.e. notarizing a fake Power of Attorney, and lying about it to arresting officers.
TEXAS PENAL CODE
TITLE 7. OFFENSES AGAINST PROPERTY
CHAPTER 32. FRAUD
Sec. 32.01. “Financial institution” means a bank, trust company, insurance company, credit union, building and loan association, savings and loan association, investment trust, investment company, or any other organization held out to the public as a place for deposit of funds or medium of savings or collective investment.
It’s not “county business;” it’s just a County Auditor using the seal of the County Judge’s office to steal someone’s property. There’s a victim in this case…of bank fraud inside the county…who lives in the county…and whose property is in the county… but it’s not “county business.”
Peggy Cornelius and another county employee have been under investigation beginning last month according to Sheriff Dickson, after a bank in Jacksonville, TX reported a fraudulent Power of Attorney. Cornelius has been released from Cherokee County jail on $5000 bond along with her co-conspirator in the County Auditor’s office. Chris Davis and local media are keeping mum on her arrest. We will update if and when facts are (rarely) reported by outside news agencies. No word from the victim yet, either.
County business as usual.
Cherokee County Commissioners hold regular session 3 days before Court Coordinator Peggy Cornelius posts bond (Aug. 28, 2021 Jacksonville Progress)
After approving next years’ budget, Cherokee County Commissioner’s Court has other public meetings slated regarding proposed tax rates. Expect these to be closed to the public for the next few weeks while Commissioner’s Court goes into damage control.
The case is “ongoing” meaning the nepotism and lying never ends.
Cherokee County employees present to receive their years of service award during the July 9 Commissioner’s Court meeting were, in no particular order, Jennifer Crowley, Judia Husband, Kelly Ray, Marceia Hamilton, Jonathan Hughes, Pam White, Peggy Cornelius and Chris Davis. Also pictured are county commissioners Kelly Traylor, Pct. 1; Steven Norton, Pct. 2; Patrick Reagan, Pct. 3 and Byron Underwood, Pct. 4. (Cherokeean July 11, 2018)
Who is paid to alter county data reporting for property tax purposes?
Underlings forged District Judge Bascom Bentley’s signature on court documents, so what’s wrong with a little fake Power of Attorney to defraud the elderly out of their property?
Cherokee County courthouse employees have access to personal emails, business calls, and first dibs on taxpayer money. Commissioners and those in the family clique enjoy county bulldozers maintaining their private properties, along with yard care provided by probationers. Sex offenders on good behavior are carpooled in for Jury Duty, then dropped off at elementary schools or the local golf course to help clean up the grounds. It’s par for the course.
Community Services Director Carl Phillips oversaw 30 years of probated Cherokee County, TX sex offenders. (Former East Texas corrections director molested child for more than 18 months, KETK)
Cherokee County newspapers don’t report the crimes committed by their families and friends.
In another all time low in Cherokee County reporting, questions remain if Peggy Cornelius is on permanent leave with full State retirement benefits, or will she continue to notarize county business while out on Felony bond. This will be the first courthouse retirement party in 100 years not advertised in the local newspapers.
As a footnote, Peggy Cornelius relinquished her State of Texas Notary Public seal on the day of her arrest August 27, 2021, and Cherokee County is quietly advertising job openings for her and her co-conspirator’s positions.
Peggy Cornelius certifies Cherokee County’s annual budget.
Absconding sex offender and probated burglars arrested for quadruple murder- When drug informants kill Part 1
Fugitive sex offenders are released on bond when caught in Cherokee County, TX.
Cherokee County, TX is where absconding sex offenders throughout the state can call home. Thieves and drug addicts can make sweet deals with District Attorney Elmer Beckworth and can count on their criminal histories being buried by the local media when they go on murdering sprees. Even after the same news outlets reports their previous arrests and releases just weeks prior.
Local sex offenders serve on juries as insurance to keep district court cases from being overturned. If the 12th Court of Appeals in Tyler, TX allows child molesters to sit on a jury, then so does the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals and the Attorney General. They also use them to snitch on local drug dealers.
Billy Dean Phillips (Source: DPS)
Billy Phillips, age 37 was arrested earlier this month in Jacksonville, TX for FAILING TO REGISTER AS A SEX OFFENDER. Phillips is supposed to be under supervision in Dallas County for the molestation of a 13-year old girl. He was released to wander the streets of Cherokee County several weeks ago for some reason, and is now charged with killing a family of four, including mother and son in New Summerfield, TX.
Jacksonville Daily Progress: Sheriff’s Arrest Report- July 4, 2021
Billy Phillips, 37, Jacksonville, failure to comply with sex offender duty to register (Dallas Co.) (Source: Daily Progress)
The DPS had Phillips listed as an Absconding fugitive since December 2020 when he disappeared into Cherokee County. They did not bother to retrieve him when he was arrested in Jacksonville so he could keep ratting out the local drug ring he associates with. He was not picked up and arraigned in Dallas County; they released him back in Jacksonville, TX and quietly updated his status in the Sex Offender Registry. Failure to stay registered as a sex offender is a Felony offense in Texas. Who paid for an unemployed drug addict’s bond? Phillips will not be on the roll call for jury duty this month.
Jesse Pawlowski (Source: KETK)
Billy Dean Phillip’s accomplice and Jacksonville, TX resident Jesse Pawlowski is currently on probation in Cherokee County for a 2019 burglary spree when he was charged again in 2020 for breaking into a vehicle in Harris County. His probation was not revoked. He is now also charged in connection of the quadruple murder in New Summerfield, TX after stealing the victim’s car.
2017 Dodge Challenger (Source: Daily Progress)
Being a drug snitch for the Cherokee County Sheriff’s Department has paid off again; however a habitual thief given adjudicated probation by District Attorney Elmer Beckworth’s office and the 2nd Judicial District court has led to the murder of four residents. They’ll claim they’re just keeping the county safe.
During press conferences and interviews, Cherokee County Sheriff Brent Dickson plays coy as to the criminal history of the three suspects knowing that one of them (Billy Phillips) was released from his custody just 2 weeks ago for absconding Sex Offense registration. The other ones are well acquainted with CCSO “Narcotics” officers. No anonymous tip was required to locate and apprehend them. They were found at the local drug den RV Park where they’re paid to snitch on each other.
Mark your calendars: the Cherokee County District Attorney’s office will blame the Texas Constitution and Penal Code for a fugitive sex offender they released and two of his drug buddies killing 4 people.
New Summerfield, TX:
Three career criminals in Jacksonville, TX have been arrested and charged with the capital murder of four residents in nearby New Summerfield, TX. The bodies of John Clinton, Jeff Gerla, Ami Hickey, and Amanda Barnes were found in a home in the 1600 block of Hwy 101 N. (Source: CBS 19) The three arrestees have avoided prosecution by agreeing to be confidential informants for law enforcement. All three have been arrested and released for similar crimes in the last few years, despite being on Supervised Probation.
Left to Right : Jesse James Pawlowski age 20, Dylan Welch age 21, and Billy Phillips age 37 (Source: KLTV)
Jesse Pawlowski is on concurrent deferred adjudicated probation for multiple counts of breaking into homes, as reported in the Jacksonville Daily Progress in October 2019; he was 18 at the time of the plea bargaining. (Source: Daily Progress)
Criminal Docket; Case 21314 ; BURGLARY OF HABITATION
THE STATE OF TEXAS vs PAWLOWSKI, JESSE JAMES
Filed 11/22/2019 – Disposition: 12/20/2019 Deferred adjudication
2nd District Court, District Clerk, Cherokee County, Texas
Criminal Docket; Case 21317 ; BURGLARY OF HABITATION
THE STATE OF TEXAS vs PAWLOWSKI, JESSE JAMES
Filed 12/19/2019 – Disposition: 12/20/2019 Deferred adjudication
2nd District Court, District Clerk, Cherokee County, Texas
Criminal Docket; Case 21318 ; BURGLARY OF HABITATION
THE STATE OF TEXAS vs PAWLOWSKI, JESSE JAMES
Filed 12/19/2019 – Disposition: 12/20/2019 Deferred adjudication
2nd District Court, District Clerk, Cherokee County, Texas
Jesse Pawlowski also has an open Burglary of a Vehicle charge in Harris County, TX; his probation in Cherokee County was not revoked.
Harris County, TX Case ID: 232559401010, Burglary of a Vehicle filed 9/14/2020.
As stated earlier, authorities made the decision to let Billy Dean Phillips stay in Cherokee County, TX after Dallas County executed an arrest warrant, so he could keep on doing what he was doing.
The 3rd suspect, Dylan Welch of Jacksonville, TX, has past Burglary charges reduced to Criminal Trespass (KETK).
Footnote: As the story updates, KETK reports the criminal histories of each of the three suspects in the New Summerfield quadruple murder. Billy Dean Phillips is an unregistered sex offender from the Dallas area; Jesse Pawlowski has multiple burglary and drug arrests in Cherokee County and elsewhere; as does Dylan Welch. Each has had their bonds set at $1 million. (Source: KETK, Here are the criminal histories for the 3 quadruple murder suspects)
Cherokee County Sheriff Deputy sentenced to 5 years for Indecency with a Child
(Courtesy KETK March 23, 2019)
As part of plea bargain, Cherokee County District Court doesn’t report the prison sentence of Sheriff Deputy molesting a local child.
Taking their cues from the Cherokee County District Attorney’s office and the 2nd Judicial District Court, East Texas media refuses to report the light sentencing of a local Sheriff Deputy convicted of child molestation during the time he was employed with the county. They published each phase of the case from his arrest to indictment. No reports that in March he accepted a plea bargain and is locked up in TDCJ. After reporting on the case for over 2 years, why would they not inform the public that a police officer was sitting in prison for Indecency with a Minor? Because he was given only 1 year for each count after a Change of Venue and Cherokee County sentenced him to probation. Pedophiles avoid prosecution by becoming Narcotics Task Force informants and stoolies for the district attorney’s office.
Local sex offenders serve on juries as insurance to keep district court cases from being overturned.
Jacksonville, TX:
Cherokee County Deputy Sergeant Jonathan Bryan Shobert was sentenced in March 2021 after his reported Indictment back in 2019 on 5 separate felony counts of Indecency with a Child By Contact. His 5 year sentence was processed through the 64th District Court in the Panhandle and away from the prying eyes of the victim’s family. Deputy Shobert is eligible for parole in 2023. He had been in Cherokee County law enforcement since 2002. (Source: Daily Progress, Oct. 24, 2006) In fact he remained employed after being arrested by the Texas Rangers from incidents reported back in 2018. (Source: Daily Progress, Feb 14, 2019) Shobert will be under concurrent Deferred Adjudication as a Registered Sex Offender upon his early release, that way he can still be called for Cherokee County jury duty.
2nd District Court, TX Case 21177 :
THE STATE OF TEXAS vs SHOBERT, JONATHAN BRYAN
Filed 05/20/2019 – Disposition: 03/05/2021 Deferred Adjudication
Elementary school principal indicted for covering up child molestation, keeps job
Community rallies together to hide student sexual assault.
Palestine, TX:
The way the news is spun and suppressed in rural East Texas would make your skin crawl. Neches Elementary School, located in Anderson County, made the national press again after the school board extended the contract of their recently indicted principal Kimberlyn Snider. (Source: KLTV- Neches ISD principal indicted for alleged role in sex assault investigation) Snider was charged with coercing children and teachers to lie to investigators after a student was sexually assaulted. (Source: KLTV Neches principal’s personnel file letters allege she coerced statements from students during investigation) The facts of the actual molestation are conveniently buried in small town feuds. For several years, Snider has been embroiled in multiple online recall petitions after being accused of retaliating against teachers and bullying students. The molestation involved Neches ISD students yet no reported arrests have been made, other than the principal’s own tampering charges. Even though investigators interviewed parents and faculty of Neches ISD, local media attempts to report the victim as “not a Neches ISD student;” while covering up the identity of the molester. Reporters were hesitant at first to confirm the child attended Neches ISD. Nightly news casts adamantly deny the victim attends Neches ISD, even though Snider claims to have conducted “her own investigation” per her personnel file. She is said to have interjected herself onto other campuses.
Ok boys and girls, one of your friends who doesn’t go to this Elementary or any school in the district was NOT molested by someone attending Neches ISD. Even though I’m facing over a dozen complaints about bullying students and staff, you better keep your mouth shut about something we know NOTHING about that did NOT happen at Neches ISD. Same goes for your teachers who SAW and HEARD nothing…
Indicted Palestine, TX elementary school principal Kimberlyn Snider is not on administrative leave thanks to her husband- the Neches ISD superintendent.
The elementary school principal is accused of threatening to lock down students and terminate witnesses to get them to change their statements. School Board members are mum as to the age of the victim, where the assault occurred; and Snider’s and their relationship to the perpetrator. If a child is assaulted by a school employee or other student on or off campus, the public deserves to know about it. Notice the media’s focus is solely on what Principal Snider did or did not do, not on the actual molestation. Authorities know if the molester is allowed to roam free, then Snider’s charges will be eventually dismissed, especially if it involves a High School date rapist in the family clique.
The indictments, one [felony] count of “tampering fabricating evidence” and five counts of “official oppression,” against Kimberlyn Ann Snider were handed down on Wednesday, January 27 with Snider’s accused actions allegedly taking place on September 29, 2020. The indictment lists five different people whom Snider allegedly subjected “to detention that the defendant knew was unlawful … acting under color here employment as a public servant, namely Neches Elementary Principal.” (Source: KLTV, Neches ISD principal indicted for alleged role in sex assault investigation)
Despite growing citizen opposition, the Neches Independent School District ‘voted’ to extend indicted elementary school principal Kim Snider’s contract without disciplinary action.
Snider’s husband Randy Snider is the Neches ISD superintendent; both employ a taxpayer provided Neches ISD attorney to represent them. Kimberlyn Snider has plead not guilty to the charges according to news sources. She faces up to 15 years in prison. The Texas Education Agency is reviewing the case. Principal Snider has been accused of “bullying” students in the past and the target of small town politicking throughout her tenure. Neches ISD trustees (and her husband) have always sided with her. However there is more effort from concerned citizens to remove Snider from her position than there is to prosecute the molestation.
A Tri-County pedophile ring operates in plain sight with the backing of public officials.
Because the child sex assault occurred at Neches ISD, and as a friend of the family has access to elementary school age children, their identity has been hidden. An outsider would have been arrested on the spot, with their name and face plastered all over the place. Insiders get cozy plea bargains and continue to work around children, with the support of judges, prosecutors, attorneys, and law enforcement within their clique. They keep their own kids enrolled within the same school district to perpetuate the cycle. Allies in the small town newspaper write misleading stories as part of the cover up. During jury selection they promote registered sex offenders as local charity cases with glowing write-ups.
Local pedophiles serve on juries as insurance to keep district court cases from being overturned.
In 2013, school board member Joshua Kincade faced child porn charges after being caught with nude photos of a Neches ISD student on his cellphone (Source: Neches ISD school board member charged with possession of child porn, KLTV) Anderson County investigators obtained a search warrant and seized several devices from Kincade’s home. Kincade was elected to the Neches Independent School District School Board in November 2012. His wife worked as a 4th Grade teacher at the Neches Elementary School with Principal Kim Snider. She was terminated in 2015 for participating in a “Change for Neches” Facebook group and posting derogatory remarks against Snider. (Source: Palestine Herald) In typical East Texas fashion, the outcome of Joshua Kincade’s child porn possession case was buried to protect the School District from scrutiny and lawsuits. (Source: Palestine Herald-Press)
Joshua Kincade, Neches ISD school board trustee
As a footnote, on May 17, 2021 the Neches ISD School Board accepted the resignation of superintendent Randy Snider effective in June (Source: KETK). Snider’s wife is still employed at Neches Elementary. The school district and Anderson County authorities continue the smokescreen as to the identity of the child molester. As in neighboring Cherokee County, this means the perpetrator is well-known in the community and their family serves on grand juries or is part of the district court jury pools.
Randy Snider, Neches ISD superintendent
June 23, 2021: To follow up, Neches ISD has filed a lawsuit against the Texas AG to overturn FOIA requests regarding the molestation and subsequent cover up. Lawyers representing both Kimberlyn Snider and the Neches ISD have filed motions in Austin in an effort to block open records responses from the Texas Attorney General’s office. The motions are “not intended to thwart transparency,” claims the attorneys. (Source: KETK) Their argument is that the Texas Public Information Act is excluded from releasing derogatory details of the case, even after the redaction of personal information, i.e. the identity of the victim “in another case” they claim does not attend Neches Elementary. They do admit however the records involve “current and former employees and students of NISD; ” i.e. the molester they quietly dismissed and all the witnesses. The FOIA requests come from a concerned citizens group and not from the lapdog East Texas media. Snider’s pre-trial hearing is set for June 25, 2021.
As the Neches ISD continues to lawyer up, there will be a concerted effort to postpone and dismiss these cases outright, while they discredit the victim’s family to avoid having the pants sued off the School Board. They don’t want the molestation to be exposed. After months of spin, local media and authorities have not officially disclosed the circumstances surrounding the child sex assault or the Elementary School principal’s alleged witness tampering on a case they claim occurred out of the school district.
July 9, 2021 update: KETK reports principal Kimberlyn Snider has vacated her position at Neches Elementary, but still remains employed under contract with Neches ISD. (Source: KETK, Kimberlyn Snider no longer principal at Neches Elementary; district seeking to fill post )
March 15, 2022 update: KETK reports a mistrial declared for Kimberlyn Snider and her attorney after the jury was empaneled to hear the interfering with a child sex assault investigation case (Source: KETK, Mistrial announced for former Neches ISD principal after attorney has medical emergency in court ). Local media continues their caveat “the alleged victim is not a student in the elementary school;” however the attacker Snider was covering for attends Neches ISD. A new trial date has not been set.
October 14, 2022 update: KETK reports after a 5 day trial in the 87th District Court in Anderson County, Kimberlyn Snider was found NOT GUILTY on all charges. The identity of the student she was accused of covering for was not released.
Filthy jails and puppy dog tails
Rusk, TX:
Everything’s not sugar and spice at the county jail. Someone forgot to tell the local news media that there’s a new Sheriff in town. The Cherokee County Jail in Rusk, TX was a mess “a long time in the making,” left over from previous office holders who include the Sheriff’s father and his former bosses. Decades of jail violations and drippy faucets never leaked to the press before. Cherokee County’s dirty laundry is being aired after State inspectors documented numerous mold, sanitation, and supervision problems that have gone unreported for years. Someone has the knives out for the new jail staff. Prisoners cooped up inside their cells without exercise and recreation spend a lot of time running their mouths off on the jailhouse pay phones. Deputies will have to be reassigned from inmate phone call monitoring duties to make-believe charitable events. (Source: State finds unsanitary conditions, many problems in Cherokee County Jail; sheriff says problems resolved – KETK)
Jail is not supposed to be the Hilton; however the Texas Commission on Jail Standards does enforce minimum safety requirements. Cherokee County has a history of jail citations from failing to properly screen incoming prisoners, to inmates killing themselves and female detainees being raped. The latest inspection of the Cherokee County Sheriff’s Department jail in Rusk, TX was on Oct. 15, 2020. (Source: State Cites Cherokee County Jail Violations- KLTV, Tyler TX)
Break out the salt for the slugs and snails.
With the holidays right around the corner and a rigged election under the carpet, county tax payers can forget about the Commissioners Court allocating millions of dollars for CCSO to run a non-compliant jail and think instead about growing beards for deer season. Somebody’s cousin will be paid to go in, clean up the toxic mold and break some more waterlines. Nepotism always pays off when family members create slime problems their kids get appointed to fix. It would be so nice and cozy if only the Tyler news outlets would stop interviewing people in Cherokee County and stop reporting how the Sheriff Department spends its money.
(Source: TCJS report 10-15-2020)
Texas Government Code Chapter 573
Cherokee County uses smoke and mirrors to distract from homegrown nepotism. In 2019, the County Attorney asked the State Attorney General’s office if it were legal for in-laws of the incoming Tax Assessor-Collector to work in the same County office. (Source: TX Attorney General archive March 8, 2019) According to the AG, it is OK as long as the relatives were hired before their kinfolk took office. Otherwise, they use their maiden names or fly under the radar until retirement. The County Attorney never posed that question regarding employees of the City of Rusk and those working in the court house all being related.
Section 573.041 of the Government Code prohibits a public official from employing a person who is related to the public official by the specified degree of consanguinity or affinity. Section 573.062 excepts persons employed in a position for a specified continuous period of time prior to a relative’s election or appointment to public office.
In other words, it is against the law for the Sheriff Department and the District Attorney’s office to pay their cousins to be “confidential informants.” It is against the law for the County Judge to use the Probation Department and county precinct equipment to mow and edge his property.
Jacksonville, TX:
It takes out of region news agencies to get wind of small town atrocities before the public is made aware that their County facilities have failed health inspections. Nursing homes quietly shut their doors without notice when they become financially insolvent after being caught abusing the residents. Substance abuse centers and halfway homes come and go like Pez Candy after years of neglect and tax write offs. Grant money is funneled to family-operated puppy mills with free advertising in local newspapers, lining their pockets and cages. In 2015, Jacksonville’s Klein Animal Shelter closed after a surprise inspection revealed illegal animal euthanasia. The director and employees where charged with animal cruelty and torture. (Source: Police charge 2 for animal cruelty as Klein shelter investigation continues- KLTV Tyler)
Klein Animal Shelter, Jacksonville TX (Courtesy KLTV)
The Perfect Storm
The duly elected President of the United States is accused of secretly doing exactly what rogue politicians and law enforcement do in plain sight. The incestuous media repeats every lie fed to them while Silicon Valley tech giants actively participate in the inversion of reality. A large chunk of the population eagerly goes along with it, politically cheering on even what negatively impacts their own families. Government corruption is written off as unique circumstances that require more government to fix, i.e. a “perfect storm” of unfortunate but unrelated events that only they can solve – but never do. NO ONE IS EVER HELD ACCOUNTABLE.
Sound familiar Cherokee County?
Entrenched government employees illegally wiretap their political enemies. There are so many willing participants of in-your-face corruption that they can frame a 5-Star General and the President of the United States for something that never took place. They get away with it because affiliated judges allow prosecutors to bring in their allies to sit on the juries. When they get caught fabricating evidence and witness tampering, the appellate courts knowingly ignore it or make up laws on the bench to justify it. It is a perfect storm of corruption in the Deep State, the Swamp, and small town USA we all know about it. They get away with murder and silencing their critics. Their collective hatred routinely boils over after demonizing their political opponents and they start killing people. And they get away with it.
New York:
How did high profile sex offender Jeffrey Epstein kill himself in a federal jail cell under CCTV surveillance? The same maximum security facility where El Chapo is guarded?
Attorney General William Barr says Epstein’s ‘suicide’ was “the perfect storm” of incompetent jailer screw-ups, broken video cameras, and outdated prison procedures. Reassignments, terminations and reprimands resulted. NO ONE WAS HELD ACCOUNTABLE. (Source: Fox News)
New Jersey:
Epstein confidant Ghislaine Maxwell is under protective custody in nearby federal holding facilities where she too faces being ‘suicided.’ (Source Fox News) Her mishandled prosecution will also be written off as “too many bad things happening at once” at the DOJ. Spokespeople for the New York Federal District Courts will claim “there’s too much chaos going on with BLM protesters and COVID-19 lockdowns…and you know it is probably Donald Trump’s Tweets causing all of this.”
Washington DC:
In the summer of 2016, Bernie Sanders staffer Seth Rich was gun downed in the wee morning hours steps away from his Washington DC apartment. He is reported to be the link between WikiLeaks and the release of Clinton campaign manager John Podesta’s emails. His drinking buddies Democrat Congressional IT staffers Imran Awan and brother Abid had complete access to Democrat computers and email servers. Even though the brothers are tied to Pakistani Intelligence, they were hired and coddled by Democrat Party Chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz. Awan was sentenced to 3 months probation for bank fraud after trying to flee the country, their crimes swept under the carpet and barely mentioned in national media. (Source: Washington Examiner)
Seth Rich had been at a local Washington DC bar with the Imran Awan brothers the night he was murdered. Rich was shot twice in the back and spoke to police before dying 2 hours later at the hospital. The attack was caught on unreleased surveillance cameras; he had not been robbed. Julian Assange offered a $25,000 reward for information leading to an arrest. (Source: People’s Pundit Daily) Hillary Clinton’s and Congressional Democrat email servers have never been handed over to the FBI to prove any foreign hacking. The media says Seth Rich was “at the wrong place at the wrong time” and continue the Russian collusion delusion.
Operation Crossfire Hurricane: the license to illegally spy and lie under oath.
The NSA, CIA, and FBI in concert with media outlets illegally spied on the 2016 Trump campaign and continued after he took office. Multiple federal laws have been broken, including lying to the FISA courts. Top FBI officials are on record routinely leaking classified information to the media and lying about it under oath. Even though Inspector General Michael Horowitz’ report spells out the fabrication of evidence in order to obtain multiple FISA surveillance warrants, NO ONE WAS HELD ACCOUNTABLE. (Source: DOJ)
Acting Attorney General Rod Rosenstein testified he didn’t even read the FISA Warrant applications he was signing for, the bulk of which the FBI outsourced to Clinton lawyers at Fusion GPS (Source: AMP) Like Jeffrey Epstein’s jail crew, reprimands, reassignments, and terminations are touted by lily-livered politicians as being sufficient punishment. NO ONE IS BEING HELD ACCOUNTABLE.
It’s all Donald Trump’s fault.
For over 3 years US Attorney John Durham has been investigating the Obama administration’s basis for illegal wire taps on Trump campaign staffer Carter Page and the genesis of the FBI’s Operation Crossfire Hurricane Russian collusion probe. NO ONE IS BEING HELD ACCOUNTABLE.
Meanwhile, Trump has been impeached for allegedly working for both the Russians and the Ukraine, along with being the cause of every natural disaster, pandemic, and murder of every black person on the planet since the beginning of time. The Deep State slow walks prosecuting members of the Swamp while it works double-time to frame, financially ruin, and lock up members of Trump’s presidential transition team.
After Trump’s 2016 win, incoming National Security Adviser General Michael Flynn’s phone calls to world leaders were intercepted by Obama officials and illegally leaked to media outlets. Gen. Flynn was unmasked 53 times by 39 different Obama officials including VP Joe Biden. Even though Republicans run the Senate Judiciary Committee and are supposed to provide oversight, NO ONE IS BEING HELD ACCOUNTABLE FOR FRAMING A 3 STAR GENERAL.
Granted, it would be nearly impossible for Deep State prosecutors to bring Federal charges against former Obama officials in the Democrat run District of Columbia, especially during a presidential election. Democrat appointed judges oppose anything that may benefit Donald Trump. But they can lock up Trump supporters for “lying” about things that never took place.
FBI Director James Comey told the world in his infamous 2016 Press Conference (about Hillary Clinton’s private email servers) that even though she broke multiple laws mishandling classified information, no Washington DC prosecutor would have the cojones to bring charges. No Washington DC judge would hear the case and no Washington DC jury would ever convict a Democrat for violating National Security. On the other hand, low tier Trump allies face pre-dawn FBI raids, stacked juries, and Obama appointed judges.
Will the biggest hoax of the Trump/Russia collusion probe be that no one will be held accountable for the attempted coup of the President of the United States?
Illegal spying on presidential campaigners, the collusion with Russian assets, the framing of innocent Americans, and the colossal waste of tax dollars during the Mueller Probe will all be written off as THE PERFECT STORM of anti-Trumpers just doing what they thought was right at the time. The inevitable conclusion of the Russian Hoax probe will end in hand-wringing and promises by politicians “to try to do better in the future.” Had any single one of these crimes even been alleged against any member of Trump’s team, Republicans and Democrats alike would be demanding heads to roll and traitors to be locked up YESTERDAY.
Meanwhile, they have set the precedent to do it again and keep the public from finding out. They’ve accomplished swaying the 2018 midterm elections with Russian propaganda paid for with taxpayer dollars they ran 24-7 on cable news, regaining the House of Representatives and impeaching the President.
What are they covering up? Just the illegal wiretapping of private citizens to affect the outcome of a presidential election.
“You did everything by the book, right?…”
The American people will continue to be fed the lie that James Comey, Andrew McCabe, James Clapper, John Brennan, et al were simply “overzealous” in their duty to expose Russian interference in the 2016 Presidential election. That they made simple mistakes and multiple misjudgments along the way that were the “perfect storm” of mishandled classified information, unmasking and accidentally leaking phone calls, and that they were beguiled by Clinton opposition research (and their understandable hatred for Donald Trump).
The Attorney General of the United States knows that a federal grand jury would scoff at the fact the entire Trump/Russian Collusion narrative was fabricated and perpetuated by the same rogue FBI agents who covered for Hillary Clinton’s illegal email server. He understands the entire story of the truth will be rewritten by a handful of traitors waiting for him to toss in the towel. The American people have to accept that a Democrat campaign can pay foreigners for made up dirt on opponents, the FBI can use Russian disinformation to obtain FISA warrants, and FBI agents are political hitmen.
Whether it is the federal government in Washington D.C., or the corrupt county courthouse in Podunk, USA, they will always lie and collectively cover their asses to stay in power. They not only need you to repeat their lies, they need you feel good about it. It happens at the highest offices in the land, and it doesn’t happen by accident or the mismanagement of “unforeseeable events.” The cabal attacks in unison anything and anyone who exposes its criminal activity and threatens its existence. Murder for hire, blackmail, the sexual abuse of children, illegal interception of phone calls and emails; framing people and the misapplication of the law is how the unscrupulous few stay in power.
“Know your place, peasants.”
A corrupt government breaks its contract with the people when it spreads Fake News, spies on its citizens, and fabricates criminal charges against political enemies. We are at the point in our history that many in the federal bureaucracy think the citizens are slaves to the State. Hopefully the Washington Deep State will face a storm of patriots come November.
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.
Hogtied and beaten in Cherokee County custody, circa 2006
Michael Clyde Jones, “allegedly” beaten up by Cherokee County, TX Sheriff Deputies (courtesy Smith Co. 8/3/2006)
March 15, 2010
Jacksonville Daily Progress
“Case against White dismissed”
Lauren LaFleur CNHI
JACKSONVILLE, TX — Charges against Cherokee County Sheriff’s Department Capt. Chris White were dismissed Monday.
White was accused of kicking Michael Jones of Jacksonville in the face on the night of Aug. 3, 2006, after Jones was restrained in handcuffs.
White had no comment Monday afternoon about the matter.
“We are pleased with the Court’s decision,” said Chad Rook, one of the attorneys representing White. “The Court clearly made the correct ruling in dismissing all claims against Captain White, as not a shred of evidence exists that he did anything to Mr. Jones.”
Jones initially filed a suit against Cherokee County because of his alleged attack. However, the county was dismissed by the court on summary judgment.
Jones was charged with evading arrest for the night in question — witnesses said they saw Jones hitting a woman in his car that night. When a Bullard police officer tried to pull Jones over to investigate the matter, Jones fled.
He was found about five hours later behind a convenience store in Troup, after abandoning his vehicle and fleeing on foot.
Ted Garrigan, Jones’ court-appointed attorney, said Jones was subdued and laying on the ground, cuffed at wrists and ankles, when Texas Department of Criminal Justice officers turned him over to Cherokee County officers.
“By the time he got to the Smith County Jail, he had six teeth knocked out and his nose was broken,” Garrigan said in a previous interview. “He said he remembers lying on the ground face down completely restrained. A Cherokee County deputy vehicle pulls up, a deputy steps out of it and kicks him in the face until he blacked out.”
According to Rook and Robert Davis, the other attorney representing White, Jones could provide a physical description of his alleged attacker — approximately 5 feet, 8 inches tall and 150-180 pounds.
But the claims that he was kicked in the face and subsequent description of his attacker didn’t come for a while.
“He never made this claim at the scene or for months following his arrest,” Rook said, via an e-mailed response to questions sent by a Daily Progress reporter. “He only started making such a claim at some point during his criminal proceedings months later.”
Rook said only three Cherokee County officers were on the scene, and White was only named because he fit the description of the man Jones claimed kicked him.
Statements were filed by officers on the scene, including those by seven TDCJ officers, all dated between Aug. 15, 2006, and Aug. 18, 2006. Six of those seven ended their written statements by stating they did not see anyone kick, hit or mistreat Jones after he was cuffed. While the wording among the six statements vary, they each express that they did not witness Jones being mistreated by any officers on the scene.
In fact, according to records obtained by the Daily Progress, only one officer recorded that any sort of attack was made on Jones — former Bullard Police Department Officer Bryan Richards recorded that a single officer involved in the incident, Troup’s Officer L. Becker, referenced [the] alleged incident at all.
“While Officer Becker was at the Bullard Police Department, he advised me that he saw a Cherokee County deputy kick Michael Jones in the mouth after he was restrained with hand and leg restraints,” according to Richards’ report. “This statement was not documented in the incident report that was provided to the Bullard Police Department.”
Becker’s statement was dated Aug. 11, 2006.
(Source: Jacksonville Daily Progress March 15, 2010)
Jones attempted to appeal his excessive force case, according to the Tyler Morning Telegraph.
The 12th Court of Appeals published the vehicle traveling at 100MPH was a “deadly weapon” without reference to the illegal ass whoopin’ Jones got when Cherokee County deputies arrived. The TDCAA also fails to mention the beating after the high speed chase. (Source: Michael Clyde Jones v. The State of Texas–Appeal from 241st District Court of Smith County)
Welcome to Cherokee County, Texas the Official Site on Corruption 