Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton cut a plea deal with prosecutors that could lead to the dismissal of the felony securities fraud charges. Prosecutors indicted Paxton on the charges in 2015.
In a plea agreement announced on Tuesday morning during a court hearing, Paxton agreed to pay approximately $300,000 in restitution to his accusers, do 100 hours of community service, and take 15 hours of legal ethics classes, according to a report by KUT News. When Paxton completes the terms of the agreement, the charges will be dismissed by the prosecutors, the report states. If he does not abide by the terms, a new trial date will be set where the attorney general will face a jury trial.
Paxton is not pleading guilty to the charges. He answered “Yes” to a question regarding if he was aware of and agreed to the terms of the plea agreement.
The plea agreement leaves Paxton at the helm of the Office of the Texas Attorney General. It also keeps him from facing the possibility of several years in a state prison and having to pay tens of thousands of dollars in fines and costs, the article states.
The Texas Tribune quotes defense attorney Dan Cogdell, who claimed that the prosecutors “approached us.” He said AG Paxton was “happy to agree to the terms of the dismissal.”
“But let me be clear, at no time was he going to enter any plea bargain agreement or admit to conduct that simply did not occur,” the famed Houston defense attorney said in a statement. “There is no admission of any wrongdoing on Ken’s part in the agreement because there was no wrongdoing on his part.”
The Texas Tribune reports:
Two of the charges — first-degree felonies — 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.
He was also accused of steering clients to a friend’s investment advising business without registering with the state securities board, a third-degree felony.
Paxton has maintained his innocence and framed the case as a politically motivated witch hunt.
The case was scheduled to go to trial in November before Texas District Court Judge Andrea Beall.
Bob Price is the Breitbart Texas-Border team’s associate editor and senior news contributor. He is an original member of the Breitbart Texas team. Price is a regular panelist on Fox 26 Houston’s What’s Your Point? Sunday morning talk show. He also serves as president of Blue Wonder Gun Care Products.
