The deal is the second major win for Paxton in roughly the last six months, after the Republican-controlled Texas Senate acquitted him last fall of 16 impeachment charges centered on allegations that he accepted bribes and abused the authority of his office to help a wealthy friend and campaign donor.
Still, Paxtonโs legal troubles arenโt over. His agency is still facing a lawsuit brought by four former top deputies who argue that Paxton improperly fired them in 2020 for reporting him to the FBI. Those whistleblowers told law enforcement they believed Paxton was using his office to benefit Austin real estate mogul Nate Paul โ the charges that formed the basis for Paxtonโs impeachment last year and that are the subject of an ongoing federal investigation. He has denied all wrongdoing.
The securities fraud case, meanwhile, has been repeatedly delayed by disputes over where the trial should take place and how much the special prosecutors handling the case should be paid. The legal saga dates back to July 2015, when Paxton was indicted on three felony securities fraud charges just months into his first term as the stateโs top lawyer.
Two of the charges โ first-degree felonies โ stemmed from allegations that Paxton persuaded investors, including a then-GOP state lawmaker, to buy at least $100,000 worth of stock in a tech startup, Servergy, without disclosing that he would be compensated for it. Paxton will have 18 months, the length of the pretrial deal period, to pay restitution to the former lawmaker, Byron Cook, and the estate of Joel Hochberg, a Florida businessman who died last year.
Wice said he is โnot necessarily opposed” to dropping the charges before the 18 months are up if Paxton makes the payments sooner. He said Paxton cannot use campaign funds to pay restitution.
Paxton was also accused of steering clients to a friendโs investment advising business without registering with the state securities board, a third-degree felony.
He has maintained his innocence and framed the case as a politically motivated witch hunt.
โThis case has been pending longer than The Beatles were together. Literally. It’s been nine years and today marks the end of what in our opinion should have happened a long time ago,โ Cogdell told reporters.
The terms were revealed at a brief hearing Tuesday morning before Harris County state District Judge Andrea Beall. Paxton, who attended the proceedings, betrayed little emotion and spoke only to be sworn in and confirm that he agreed to the deal.
Wice said he had been โbesieged by a torrent of phone callsโ from people who have โexpressed their monumental displeasure with the fact that these cases are being resolved with a pretrial intervention.โ Touting the restitution Paxton now owes to his alleged victims, Wice said it was more important to secure justice for them than to pursue prison time for Paxton, which he said should only be a priority if the defendant poses a threat to public safety.
โI appreciate your concern,โ Wice said of those criticizing the outcome. โWith all due respect, your truth is not the truth. You know one half of 1 percent of what [fellow prosecutor] Mr. [Jed] Silverman and I know about the facts of these cases. And the fact that all of these people have registered their monumental displeasure with what happened in these cases, I submit, probably should have been directed at the ballot box.โ
Paxton will perform community service in Collin County, where he resides, with an “entity or organization” agreed upon by both sides, Wice said โ likely a “food pantry or soup kitchen.”
He will also be required to check in with prosecutors every 60 days to ensure he is fulfilling the terms of the deal. The case could still resume and head to trial if Paxton fails to comply.
The fraud case began moving toward trial in November when Beall declined to continue holding it up over a dispute about back pay owed to the special prosecutors.
The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals also declined to take up the pay issue, and Beall rejected Paxtonโs attempt to toss the case last month, seeming to set the stage for an April 15 trial.
Wice said the case included a โperfect storm of everything that could have derailed and delayed the prosecution.โ He slammed the judges who previously oversaw the case before Beall took it over, accusing them of failing to issue timely rulings on basic motions.
The outcome marks the latest example of Paxton emerging from scandal virtually unscathed, a trend that has baffled and enraged his critics and reinforced his status as a hero of the party’s most conservative flank in Texas and beyond. He has deflected scandal repeatedly, twice winning reelection while under indictment for securities fraud and, in the most recent election, after being accused of corruption by former top deputies.
The pretrial agreement also means that Paxton will again avoid facing questions under oath. He did not testify at his impeachment trial after Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick โ who presided over the case in a role akin to that of a judge โย ruled that Paxton could not be forcedย to do so. He was also spared from being deposed in the ongoing whistleblower lawsuit earlier this year when the Texas Supreme Courtย blocked depositionsย for Paxton and three top aides days before they were scheduled to begin.
Wice noted, however, that Paxton could have invoked his right under the Fifth Amendment to avoid testifying even if the securities fraud case had proceeded to trial.
Paxton, who spent a largely uneventful decade in the state House, rose to political prominence based in part on his reputation as a stalwart backer of religious liberty who would use the attorney general’s office to wage major legal battles on issues like abortion and LGBTQ rights. He has frequently sued the Biden administration on an array of policies, most notably around immigration. He also tried to overturn the results of the 2020 election in four key battleground states won by President Joe Biden, an unsuccessful bid that nonetheless cemented Paxton’s political alliance with former President Donald Trump. That effort prompted the Texas State Bar to sue Paxton for professional misconduct, in a case that is still ongoing.
Trump has repeatedly come to Paxton’s defense and encouraged his legions of followers to target those who have opposed Paxton, including House GOP lawmakers who voted to impeach the attorney general.
The result clears a major hurdle for Paxton’s political future. He is widely seen as a likely candidate for higher statewide office and has pointedly refused to rule out the possibility of challenging U.S. Sen.ย John Cornynย in the 2026 Republican primary.
This article was written by JASPER SCHERER of The Texas Tribune.ย This article originally appeared at : https://www.texastribune.org/2024/03/25/ken-paxton-plea-deal-securities-fraud-felony/