A Nueces County district judge sentenced former Jim Wells and Brooks counties district attorney Joe Frank Garza to 180 days in jail and ordered him to make more than $2 million in restitution for skimming at least $1.2 million in drug seizure forfeitures for himself and three of his former staff members.
Judge Thomas Greenwell sentenced Garza to 10 years probation, fined him $10,000 and ordered him to surrender his law license, according to a release issued today by the state office of the Attorney General.
Garza pleaded guilty in March to felony misuse of forfeitures between January of 2002 through December of 2008. Garza repeatedly failed to get approval for the use of the drug seizure assets from his commissioner’s court as required by Texas law.
District Attorney Armando Barrera, Garza’s successor, called for an investigation after doing an audit of drug seizure collections and their dispersal to Garza and employees he referred to as "my eyes and ears in the community."
Judge Thomas Greenwell sentenced Garza to 10 years probation, fined him $10,000 and ordered him to surrender his law license, according to a release issued today by the state office of the Attorney General.
Garza pleaded guilty in March to felony misuse of forfeitures between January of 2002 through December of 2008. Garza repeatedly failed to get approval for the use of the drug seizure assets from his commissioner’s court as required by Texas law.
District Attorney Armando Barrera, Garza’s successor, called for an investigation after doing an audit of drug seizure collections and their dispersal to Garza and employees he referred to as "my eyes and ears in the community."
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Contact Mark Lisheron at 512-299-2318 or mark@texaswatchdog.org.
Keep up with all the latest news from Texas Watchdog. Fan our page on Facebook, follow us on Twitter and Scribd, and fan us on YouTube. Join our network on de.licio.us, and put our RSS feeds in your newsreader. We're also on MySpace, Digg, FriendFeed, and tumblr.
Photo of money by flickr user yomanimus, used via a Creative Commons license.
Contact Mark Lisheron at 512-299-2318 or mark@texaswatchdog.org.
Keep up with all the latest news from Texas Watchdog. Fan our page on Facebook, follow us on Twitter and Scribd, and fan us on YouTube. Join our network on de.licio.us, and put our RSS feeds in your newsreader. We're also on MySpace, Digg, FriendFeed, and tumblr.
Photo of money by flickr user yomanimus, used via a Creative Commons license.
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