Crime and Law

More Than 500 Indians Abused by Human Trafficking, Lawyer Says

In 2005, Hurricane Katrina not only almost destroyed New Orleans and wreaked havoc on the Gulf Coast. The hurricane may also have opened the door for human trafficking for one company, according to lawsuits filed in Texas and Mississippi on Tuesday. The swathe of destruction Hurricane Katrina cut ... More >>

Sean Walsh: Feds Send Him Child-Porn Catalog, He Orders, Is Busted

Modern marketing involves aggressively targeting a potential customer and then quickly and efficiently fulfilling his needs. And when you think of the words "efficiently" and "fulfilling his needs" you think of nothing else but the federal government right? Right? Okay, okay -- maybe the feds don' ... More >>

The Hates, the 1970s Gas Crisis, and "Do the Caryl Chessman"

Not to brag, but I've got a copy of the new Hates album, People's Temple, and it is (as usual) a fantastic little CD that every punk fan in Houston should own. We're still waiting on a confirmed release party at Cactus, but before that happens there's a song on the disc we want to talk about, "Do th ... More >>

Bank Robbery Breakdown: Fresh, CT, Mikey Poo, Little Kevin, Crybaby & Nine Others Headed To Prison

How many people does it take to rob a series of Houston-area banks? More than 14, apparently, because 14 couldn't get the job in 2010 without getting caught. Yesterday the last two defendants of that ring, who had rejected plea-bargain offers in order to go to trial, got their sentences, the U.S. ... More >>

Jailhouse Rock: When Artists Face Hard Time

Nothing earns an musician instant street cred quite like a night or two in the pokey. It's basically a rite of passage -- a guarantee that if you sign up for the public eye, you will, indeed, screw it up at least once in order to delight us with your antics. From the likes of good ol' boys like Mer ... More >>

Thirteen Former Corrections Officers Indicted for Racketeering and Drug Charges

Anyone who has watched TV knows that prisons are seriously screwed up places. They call them "correctional facilities," but very few believe much is being corrected inside the walls. And if you believe TV and movies, prison guards are often corrupt bullies who just want to kick prisoners asses and t ... More >>

Juan Villareal: HISD Teacher Pleads Guilty To Distributing Child Porn

A third-grade teacher in the Houston school district entered a guilty plea Tuesday to charges of possessing and distributing child pornography. Juan A. Villarreal, 52, a third-grade teacher at Anderson Elementary in Westbury, has taught in the district for 11 years, but he was out of a job once he ... More >>

Shane Trumble: Extensive Child Porn Collection and Kids' Underwear Found in New Caney Trailer Home (This Is So Wrong)

This dude's alleged actions are grosser than grossest. It also may be disturbing to some readers -- you've been warned. At approximately 6 p.m. Wednesday, Montgomery County Precinct 4 Constables requested a search of the New Caney motor home occupied by Shane Anthony Trumble, his father and his ... More >>

Houston Press Staff Writer Named a Co-Defendant in Swamplot vs. Mark Thuesen Suit

Craig Malisow of the Houston Press has been named a third-party defendant in a lawsuit that pits Swamplot against former homeowners' association president Mark Thuesen and vice versa. On August 27, 2012, Laurence Albert, a co-founder of the real estate blog Swamplot, filed a malicious prosecution l ... More >>

Mini-Madoff Sentenced to Ten Years For $7.8 Million Fraud

For ten years, a Houston attorney told friends and prospective investors he was involved in real estate investment. But the money collected merely fed a Ponzi scheme that federal prosecutors say cost more than 20 victims $7.8 million. On Friday, Davis was sentenced to ten years in prison after he pl ... More >>

James Anthony Rubio: One of the State's 10 Most Wanted Sex Offenders Caught in Bandera

One down, nine to go. The Texas Department of Public Safety announced that it has captured James Anthony Rubio, one of the state's 10 most wanted sex offenders, on Monday in Bandera as the result of a tip that paid $5,000 to the tipster. Rubio, 55, is the first on the state's list to be caught in 20 ... More >>

HPD Releases Surveillance Footage of a Shooting by a Guy Trying to Look Like a Ninja

On December 8 at around 9:20 p.m., three suspects were allegedly involved in the shooting of Eduardo Magana, 18, of Sugar Land in a the parking lot of a convenience store at 7433 Bissonnet. Police have released a surveillance video of the shooting, which includes two of the suspects. The shooter, se ... More >>

One More Reason Not to Drive Drunk on New Year's Eve

Earlier today, I gave you five not so great reasons to avoid drunk driving this New Year's. They were superficial and unimportant, but they were meant to underscore the fact that driving under the influence is reckless and stupid, particularly on the drunkest night of the year. This doesn't mean you ... More >>

Adolescents

Lawyers for Alleged HGO Rape Victim Speak Out

Lawyers for a woman who claims she was raped as a minor while working on a production for the Houston Grand Opera are bewildered by a grand jury's decision not to indict the accused rapist last year. "We feel that the ball was dropped," says Rick Prieto, who represents Amber Dewalt, now 18. "We fee ... More >>

FBI Offering $10K "Quick Christmas Cash" for Help Apprehending Bank Robber

You really have to hand it to the FBI. For an organization that doesn't seem really funny at all, their press releases seeking the help of citizens to apprehend criminals can be hilarious. Take this "digital billboard" effort to catch Victor Dwayne Johnson, who is charged with bank robbery for the r ... More >>

Sketches of AT&T Robbery Suspects -- Including One Who Is "Big Boned" -- Released by Police

Houston police released sketches of three suspects allegedly involved in robberies of AT&T employees in the Acres Homes area. According to a press release, the three men approach AT&T workers, threaten them with guns and steal their belongings, including phones and iPads issued by AT&T. In addition ... More >>

Alleged Election Night Domestic Assault Has Local Attorney and Obama Fan Facing Felony Charge

An alleged domestic assault on election night has a local defense attorney and marine Iraq vet facing a felony family violence charge. According to court records, David Christopher Hesse was drinking beer and watching election returns with his wife Sandra Hesse in their Clear Lake-area home on Nove ... More >>

Patent Law: The New Cold War

On the frontlines of the costliest battle in the high-tech world.

Amegy Bank Gets Hit by "Wedding Band Bandit" Who May be Divorced Soon if His Wife Sees This

The Amegy Bank at 12130 Hempstead Highway was robbed today and the FBI hopes the public can help them find the bad guy. The local FBI likes attaching special monikers to its suspects -- which we wholeheartedly approve of because otherwise writing up this stuff would be incredibly kind of boring. ... More >>

DOJ Eyes Will Be On the Ground in Harris, Fort Bend counties on Election Day

Voters in Harris and Fort Bend counties will get an extra treat on Election Day: Federal poll watchers. As a result of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 (now 47 years old!), the federal government attempts to make sure every registered voter regardless of race, color "or membership in a minority langua ... More >>

Marvin Gay, Sr., and the 10 Worst Rock-Star Parents of All Time

Twenty-eight years ago this week, Marvin Gay, Sr., received a six-year suspended sentence and five years of probation for the voluntary manslaughter of his son, the R&B legend Marvin Gaye. Gay pled guilty after shooting his namesake dead in the L.A. home given to him and his wife by Gaye, who was 44 ... More >>

Bennie Ray Dupnik Jr., Infamous 1970s Port Aransas Murderer, Dead in Apparent Murder-Suicide

The paroled murderer of the owner of a famous, long-lived Texas Gulf Coast beer joint is dead, apparently at his own hand after killing his girlfriend in their Victoria apartment. 51-year-old Bennie Ray Dupnik Jr. and 44-year-old Sandra Rivera were discovered by Rivera's sons. Rivera had been stab ... More >>

State Criminal Justice System Group: "Texas Failing Traumatized Girls"

The state's juvenile justice system is failing the girls in its custody, according to a new report from the Texas Criminal Justice Coalition. The findings of a one-day survey of approximately 100 girls at the Ron Jackson State Juvenile Correctional Complex suggest that the residents, most of whom ... More >>

Unidentified 41-Year-Old Man Shot to Death During Robbery: Bayou Body Count No. 184

Several men forced their way into a home at 1936 Dolly Wright and during the robbery that followed, a 41-year-old man was shot to death, Houston police say. The robbery/shooting occurred about 7 a.m. Tuesday, October 23.

Vince Ryan Takes on the Crips and Bloods in Court Again, Including Trae The Truth's Alleged Shooter

Harris County Attorney Vince Ryan has established a new battleground in his fight against the Bloods and the Crips. The arena' s still the same -- a civil courtroom where his office seeks an injunction -- but the target is yet another apartment complex. Ryan has sued over complexes in various part ... More >>

Gordon Oehmig: Former St. Thomas High Wrestling Coach of the Year Nabbed For Child Porn

A former Prep Coach of the Year from St. Thomas High has been arrested after authorities found 1,500 digital images and 500 videos of child porn on his computers, court documents show. Gordon Daniel Oehmig, 29, is no longer at the school, but coached there from from 2009-12, when he won the coach o ... More >>

ACLU, Human Rights Watch Report Condemns Solitary Confinement for Teens

In June 2009, Chris Vogel wrote our story "For Their Own Good," detailing the problems created when teens are left in solitary confinement in jail for up to 23 hours a day. We'd like to think we made an impact -- well, we had some effect in Harris County, which is what we concentrated on -- but as ... More >>

Braylon Lionell Marshall: Inside The Addled Mind Of An Alleged Bank Robber

This one begins with a wig, sunglasses, yellow capri pants, and a man dressed as a woman. On September 5 at First Convenience Bank, the strangely-dressed man, who police say was Braylon Lionell Marshall, 24, handed a teller a rather dramatic note. It read, "I have a bomb. If you don't give me all ... More >>

Father Ronald Bollich: Two More Men Accuse Beaumont Diocese of Negligence in Alleged Abuse

Two more men have joined a lawsuit accusing a deceased Beaumont priest of molestation. Identified as John Does, the two men join another anonymous plaintiff who sued the Roman Catholic Diocese of Beaumont and Bishop Curtis Guillory in April over abuse that allegedly occurred in 1976 and 1977. The ... More >>

Um, Thanks? FBI Releases Exceedingly Unhelpful Pictures Of Most-Wanted Houston Bank Robbers

For all you gumshoes out there, the FBI just made your job exactly no easier than it was before. Yesterday, the agency released photographs of the top 10 most wanted bank thieves, most of their faces hooded, masked, or behind sunglasses. The hunt is on for, it seems, people who wear hooded sweatshir ... More >>

Pradaxa Lawsuits Consolidated in Beautiful East St. Louis, Illinois

Families suing the maker of anti-clotting drug Pradaxa will have their cases consolidated in an East St. Louis, Illinois, court -- a decision the Texas-based law firm leading the suits is calling a coup. Pradaxa hit the U.S. market in 2010, hailed by manufacturer Boehringer Ingelheim as a major le ... More >>

Ceceilia Sanders, 27, Bayou Body Count No. 116

A woman was stabbed to death in her apartment near her two small children a little after midnight Monday, and a man has been charged with murder. Ceceilia Sanders, 27, was found in her apartment in the 5600 block of Yale, stabbed several times. Two children, ages three and eight months old, were ne ... More >>

Texan Challenges Civil Forfeiture Law

Police can keep your cash, car and other property, regardless of whether you've been convicted of – let alone charged with – a crime.

Walmart Robbery Suspect Photos Released: Camouflage Hat & All

Thanks to the miracle of modern surveillance cameras, we can all now have a look at the fellow who the FBI believes robbed the Woodforest National Bank located inside a Humble Walmart store on Saturday, July 14. The 9:17 a.m. robbery occurred at the bank in the Walmart at 9235 North Sam Houston Par ... More >>

Criminals and Killers Love/Hate the Raiders, Cowboys and Sooners

During Monday's sentencing hearing for Brian Kerstetter, the 33-year-old white male who was found guilty of targeting a random African-American man at a downtown Houston bus stop, the prison-bound Kerstetter couldn't help himself from blasting a certain loved/loathed NFL franchise. "I'm not a hate ... More >>

Unidentified Man Shot to Death, Bayou Body Count No. 101

According to reports from KRIV and KHOU, a man was shot to death at a house in northwest Houston home. The Harris County Sheriff's Office responded to a home at Grand Forest Drive and Sagecroft Drive around 4 a.m. Tuesday morning where a man was found shot to death. No arrests have been made and th ... More >>

Reports: ABN's Dinky D, Poppa C Shot Dead Outside Strip Club

See Rocks Off's timeline of other Houston rap-related shootings. According to several Twitter updates including by Bun B, two members of Houston rap crew Assholes by Nature, Dinky D and Poppa C, were shot and killed outside the Diamond Club on Westpark around 3 a.m. Wednesday. One other person was ... More >>

Rate Your Risk, Maybe

10 Best Modern Political Speeches

We'll be hearing a lot of great speeches this election season, but lets take a second to remember the true giants of political rhetoric. 10. Martin Luther King: I've Been to the Mountaintop King delivered this speech in Memphis, Tennessee the day before he was assassinated. After talking for a whi ... More >>

Robert Pemelton: The Smiling-est Damn (Alleged) DWI Mugshot Ever

Robert Pemelton decided to show off in his black Jaguar on a Harlingen street about 1:30 yesterday; unfortunately for him, a cop saw it all and stopped him. Pemelton failed field sobriety tests, but apparently he doesn't feel too bad about -- his mugshots show him all smiles, like he's having the f ... More >>

Two Men Take Roak to Court, Each Claiming Assaults on Premises of Upper Kirby Lounge

Roak, the former Upper Kirby funeral home turned trendy, South Beach-esque oontz-oontz lounge, was taken to court twice last month. Alleged assaults on the premises figure in both cases. On May 23, attorney J. Michael Moore asked for and was granted a temporary restraining order and a temporary inj ... More >>

Reginald Sheppard, 23, Bayou Body Count No. 73

A man was shot to death by his neighbor Tuesday night, but police don't know why. Reginald Sheppard, 23, was shot by Jairo Umanzor, 27, about 9:40 p.m. in the 4300 block of Fallen Oaks, near Tidwell and T.C. Jester. "Umanzor admitted to his involvement in Sheppard's death," HPD says. "At this time ... More >>

Unidentified Store Clerk, Shot Either by Robbers or Man with Concealed Handgun, Bayou Body Count No. 61

A clerk at the Dollar General store in the 6900 block of Bellfort was shot and killed last night, and police say they are unsure if the fatal shot came from robbers or the customer with a Concealed Handgun License who also opened fire. The store was just closing at 10 p.m. when two men entered and ... More >>

Matthew Eyerly: Produced Child Porn, Says His Girlfriend Also Sent Him Nude Pics of Her Kid

Matthew David Eyerly pleaded guilty today to conspiracy to produce child pornography and possession of child pornography, the U.S. Attorney's Office said. Eyerly, 35, "admitted to digital and oral contact with the genitals of the child and having taken pictures of these acts," the USAO said. "He sa ... More >>

Adrian Comstock & Patricia Hickman: Your Odd Robbery Couple of the Day, Fresh Off a Gunfight with a 59-Year-Old Woman

Two mug shots that you might not normally put together were forever joined thanks to arrests at the Super 8 motel in Humble. Adrian Nathaniel Comstock, 29, and Patricia Lynn Hickman, 56, were both arrested for aggravated robbery for a home invasion that included a shootout near New Caney last week. ... More >>

Beaumont Diocese Sued Over Priest Who Allegedly Abused Teen in 1976

A Dallas County man is suing the Roman Catholic Diocese of Beaumont, and Bishop Curtis Guillory, over sexual abuse the man allegedly suffered by a now-deceased priest in 1976-1977. Filed last week in Jefferson County District Court, the man -- identified as John Doe 104 -- claims that Father Ronald ... More >>

MADD Says 85 Percent of Texas Parents Say Their Kids "Are Not Interested in Drinking"

Texas parents are a deluded group, if a new survey for Mothers Against Drunk Driving is any indication. The survey says 85 percent of Texas parents feel their children "are not interested in drinking." At least some of those 85 percent have kids in high school, one would think. But apparently they ... More >>

Damien Goss, 30, Bayou Body Count No. 45

A man was shot to death in his car early Sunday morning on the north side, police say. Damien Goss, 30, has pulled into a driveway in the 1400 block of 34th Street about 1:40 a.m., police say. " An unknown suspect, in a late model dark gray or black Chevrolet Impala, pulled up next to Goss' car fac ... More >>

Pedro Miguel Rosales Ramos, 32, Homeless Man Shot for His Bike & Food, Bayou Body Count No. 41

Houston police say a homeless man was shot to death for his bicycle and some food he'd been given. Pedro Miguel Rosales Ramos, 32, was shot in the chest Wednesday night in the 11700 block of Hempstead Highway and was pronounced dead at the scene. Ramos was heard arguing in a parking lot about 10:3 ... More >>