Ken Paxton, prosecutors agree to pre-trial deal to drop felony fraud charges
HOUSTON — Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton agreed Tuesday morning to a pre-trial intervention program that will see state felony charges against him dropped.
In a deal between the special prosecutor and Paxton's lawyers, the 18-month intervention program includes Paxton paying $270,000 of restitution to the victims and completing 100 hours of community service in Collin County. According to the special prosecutor that will likely involve spending time at a food pantry or a soup kitchen.
Paxton will also have to take 15 hours of legal ethics classes sponsored by the Texas Bar Association.
The agreement does not include an admission of guilt.
The special prosecutors will monitor Paxton's progress every 60 days, and may re-file the charges if Paxton does not abide by the terms.
Paxon declined to comment on his way inside the courtroom Tuesday morning, but in a statement afterward he said, "I look forward to putting this behind me. I want to thank my family, team, and supporters for sticking by my side. Dealing with a ten-year case looming over our heads was no easy task. I am glad to move on and will provide further comment in the weeks ahead."
The case was first filed against Paxton nine years ago after he was elected attorney general but involves allegations from before his election to statewide office. He was facing a third-degree felony charge for allegedly failing to file paperwork that he was a securities adviser.
Did Paxton get a special deal?
Some social media users following the case raised questions about whether Paxton got a special deal no one else would have.
After Tuesday's hearing, reporters asked both the prosecutors and Paxton's attorneys.
The prosecutors said Paxton got what most people would receive, but the attorney general's lawyers said he was prosecuted for something most people wouldn't have been.
"I think history will teach us; history will show us that Ken Paxton would never have been prosecuted in this case but for his being the attorney general, on the failure to register case," said Dan Cogdell, Paxton's lead attorney. "He's the only person in history that was prosecuted criminally after he paid a $200 administrative fine to the state securities board."
Brian Wice, one of the state's special prosecutors said, "This sends a message you're not going to be treated any differently than any other defendant. If any other defendant, assuming no prior criminal history, no other aggravating factors, was able to make restitution, do community service, I can't think of a single defendant that Jed and I ever represented that had to do legal ethics training or be supervised by the prosecutors"
A former special state prosecutor in the case, Kent Schaffer, told CBS News Texas that deals like this are common, especially in large counties, and that the public should not be surprised.
"When we indicted this case, we understood this very realistic possibility that even if Paxton was convicted, a jury probably wouldn't put him in prison. He'd be a convicted felon, but we always presumed he would get probation. It's a high-profile case but if a lawyer, stockbroker, bus driver, a schoolteacher, pre-trial diversion would probably be the first thing a district attorney would offer," Schaffer said.
Paxton was also initially charged with two first-degree felonies of securities fraud, but Schaffer said one of those charges has been dropped because one of the victims died.
According to Schaffer, Paxton is accused of failing to disclose to investors that he was making a commission on certain investments they made and that, unlike previous occasions, he was not contributing his own money to those same investments.
Why did the case take so long?
The criminal charges were first filed in 2015, and Wice blamed prior judges in this case for not doing their jobs, and for not making the proper decisions, which allowed it to drag on.
Wice said additional delays were due to the courthouse flooding during Hurricane Harvey in 2017, as well as the courts shutting down at the start of the COVID pandemic in 2020.
Paxton's attorneys also tried to get the charges dropped and fought to have the case moved back to Collin County from Harris County.
Those decisions were appealed.
The special prosecutors have also been part of a pay dispute with Collin County, and say they haven't gotten paid; Wice told CBS News Texas he is owed about $250,000 and Schaffer said he is owed more than $200,000.
That issue remains under appeal.
Paxton reportedly remains under federal investigation.
He also faces a whistleblower lawsuit filed against him by his former top lieutenants who were fired after they went to the FBI more than three years ago to report potential bribery allegations against him. The case led to his impeachment last year by the Texas House, followed by an acquittal in the Senate. He has also denied any wrongdoing in that case.
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