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Fort Bend County Decide KP George, already going through authorized troubles, was arrested Friday and charged with two counts of cash laundering, in line with county jail information and the district lawyer’s workplace.
A spokesperson for the county choose, a Democrat first elected in 2018 and re-elected in 2022, couldn’t instantly be reached for remark Friday.
George was indicted in September on a misdemeanor cost of misrepresentation of id. He’s accused of working with former staffer Taral Patel to create faux racist assaults towards his personal marketing campaign on social media.
However prosecutors say the cash laundering cost is unrelated to George’s prior indictment.
“The District Legal professional’s Workplace has constantly said that the investigation was ongoing, and that investigation has now led to 2 Third-degree felony indictments for Cash Laundering, which had been made public right now,” the Fort Bend County District Legal professional’s Workplace mentioned in an announcement. “These prices are unrelated to the pending misdemeanor and are assigned to the 458th District Court docket. Our workplace stays dedicated to the integrity our public deserves, and the ethics to which all prosecutors are sworn to. And our investigation stays ongoing.”
George is accused of laundering equal to or greater than $30,000 however lower than $150,000. In accordance with courtroom information, the cash laundering prices are linked to alleged wire fraud and tampering with a marketing campaign finance report.
Cash laundering is a third-degree felony punishable by as much as 10 years in jail.
George’s arrest final yr stemmed from his 2022 re-election marketing campaign. Throughout that point, the county choose shared screenshots of racist feedback he acquired on social media. However prosecutors mentioned at the very least a number of the feedback had been posted by Patel underneath faux accounts and that George was conscious of his staffer’s actions.
Patel ran for Fort Bend Precinct 3 County Commissioner in 2024. He’s accused of taking the same technique, allegedly sharing a collage of xenophobic feedback towards his marketing campaign. Investigators say a number of of these feedback had been additionally posted by faux accounts and that Patel impersonated a number of actual individuals, together with a choose.
In November, a number of months after his arrest, Patel misplaced to Republican incumbent Andy Meyers. Patel is at the moment going through 9 prison prices.
In December, prosecutors confirmed they had been investigating a contract between the county choose and Patel.
George was booked into the county jail round 3:30 p.m. Friday and was being held on a bail quantity of $20,000.
On Thursday, George’s workplace introduced that his State of the County tackle, scheduled for Might 8, had been postponed till additional discover.
