Parole

Lesley Pehrigo: Prison For Indeceny With Four-Year-Old Boy In 1999; Gets Out & Violates Parole By Having Contact With Him

Lesley Pehrigo's career as a sex offender seems odd and details are sketchy. But if online records are correct, she went to prison for indecency with a child -- a four-year-old child. The incident, of which there aren't many details handy, happened in 1999. She did her time and got out. On Friday ... More >>

Jason Hales, Convicted Sex Offender, Busted for Pot Growing Room in House

Comedian Damon Wayans once said, "I have a friend in jail for something he didn't do. He didn't run fast enough." But, the reality is so many criminals get busted not for an inability to escape, but because they do really stupid things. Take the case of Jason Hales, a convicted sex offender living ... 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 >>

TDCJ's 10 Most Terminally Ill Inmates Cost $2 Million a Year to Treat

Jailed offenders with terminal illnesses have a price tag, and the 10 costliest inmates in the state's prison's system totaled almost $2 million in health care costs in 2011. That's a figure quoted by Sen. John Whitmire, D-Houston, who tracks such topics as chair of the Senate Criminal Justice Comm ... More >>

Harold Lewis Bacon, 64, Killed by Girlfriend, Who Then Stayed with Body for Nine Hours, Bayou Body Count No. 20

Photo by HPDLinda Dorsey, arrested again​Linda Darnice Dorsey, a 55-year-old woman who had been paroled for an earlier murder, shot her 64-year-old boyfriend and then stayed with the body for nine hours before calling police, police say. Harold Lewis Bacon had come to Dorsey's apartment in no ... More >>

Person of Interest: "No 'Legacy' Is So Rich As Honesty"

That's Shakespeare, homes. Though, as it turns out, not really applicable to last night's episode at all. In passing along one of the Machine's numbers last week, Mr. Finch effectively showed Detective Carter his hand. And by thwarting Watson in his attempted murder, Carter did a good job playing i ... More >>

Clifton Grasham-Reeves and Kaci Pomerenke: A Tale of Two Texas Sex Cases

Is the Texas justice system simply a crapshoot? Is there still an enormous double standard when it comes to sex crimes? Or has Jerry Sandusky cast a huge shadow over future sentences for all those convicted of sex crimes against children? A while back we introduced you to the tale of Clifton Grash ... More >>

Jon Buice: Parole Reversed for Gay Basher

Jon Buice stays in prison.​Jon Buice, who had been awarded a controversial parole after serving time for his role in the gay-bashing death of Paul Broussard, will not be a free man after all. The Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles today reversed its earlier decision granting Buice parole in l ... More >>

GEO: Private-Prison Company Somehow Keeps Getting Contracts In Texas

Illustration by Keri RosebraughA look into private prisons​When Arthur William Brown left his Houston halfway house December 15, he did the usual: he signed the check-out form that residents of the facility have to sign whenever they leave the premises for the day. Only on that day, Brown ... More >>

Montrose Murder

Paul Broussard's killer, up for parole, may not be model prisoner.

Top 5 Rapper "Secret" Identities

Rocks Off wonders what hip-hop would look like if rappers were true to who they really are, or should we say... who they were. Perhaps it would look like the video "Swagger Wagon," by The Sienna Family, the latest Internet phenomenon that has amassed 2.4 million hits in less than a month. Those G's ... More >>

Most Menacing Fugitive Ever On The Loose In Area: Really, Don't Try To Apprehend This Dude On Your Own

Photo from Montgomery County SO​A lot of times when you read a report about a fugitive, that part about how "the subject should be considered armed and dangerous: do not attempt to apprehend" seems like a mere formality. That is decidedly not the case when it comes to 41-year-old Montgomery County ... More >>

Houston's Child-Porn-Lovin' Attorney Arrested Again

Man, the Christmas season really blows for disbarred attorney Tom Zaratti.First, on Christmas Eve 2003, he was arrested for possession of child pornography, which ultimately led to a ten-year, $10,000 sentence. But while fortune smiled in the form of early parole, the anti-Christmas spirit came back ... More >>

Crime Doesn’t Pay(back): A Houston Press Special Report on Court-Ordered Restitutions in Texas

More than 90 percent of Texas parolees walk away without paying off what the state ordered them to.

Former Death-Row Inmate Sent Back to Prison

Martin Draughon returns to the clink after becoming a test case for alleged flaws in GPS monitoring devices

Ill Will

A parolee fights leukemia -- and the constraints of ankle monitors

No Way Out

How can homeless sex offenders comply with the registration laws?

Parts Unknown

Did Donnie Riley kill Tarron Dixon, or was he shooting at someone else in a different Houston neighborhood that night 13 years ago?

Doing Time

With JC in the TDCJ

Jail Hell

Even as inmate James Mitchell was dying, Montgomery County told his relatives he'd be fine

Penned In

Almost nobody -- not even the trial judge or the victim -- thinks John Michael Harvey molested a child. So why's he still serving 40 years in prison?

On the Mark

Plus: Equal Justice, Downtown SUV Alert, Needle Points

About the Author

Can a former inmate write about victims' issues?

Justice for Some

Just who is a victim? After flexing its muscles to reform the justice system, the victims’ rights movement suffers growing pains over divisive issues.

Hard on the Yard

A law leaves some sex offenders banned from their own attorneys' offices

Baby, You're a Star

Simpleton is Houston's best hope for the next big thing

In Search of Lost Time

Robert Conran jumped from the frying pan and into the fire. Then they turned up the heat.

Rejected

Thousands of inmates rely annually on a capricious parole board for their freedom. Most, like George Dismukes, return to their cells without ever knowing why they were denied.

Captive Emotions

Reagan Hamilton goes into Texas jails and tells inmates they better stay in touch with their kids. Her sadly powerful message has sparked some successes. Too bad they don't include her own father.

From Cells to Souls

Chuck Colson and his evangelical Christians team up with a local prison for a divine intervention program

Codes of Silence

In prison, getting involved can mean permanent isolation

Waldhauser Watch

A story about the new life and old ways of a notorious killer spurs indictments and national coverage

Cell Phones

Not even prison officials can silence the irrepressible King of Con

Killer On The Loose

Was Walter Waldhauser/ Michael Davis tipped about his latest arrest warrants?

When the Circus Comes To Town

And the stars of the show end up dead

Walter Waldhauser Wired

Status Report

Merry Xmas, Mr. Waldhauser

A hearing officer finds that a convicted killer did not violate parole

Awe That's Eel

A troubled woman and an ex-convict create a compelling Asian film

A Killer By Any Other Name

Walt Waldhauser who became Michael Lee Davis may be headed back to prison

Fugitive Justice

Gary Robert Williams's violent career began spectacularly 29 years ago. This is the story of how one determined U.S. marshal brought it to an end.

The Special Needs of Frank Gonzales Jr.

The Texas parole board let him out to die; instead, he got involved in a killing.

The Further Adventures of King Con

Yet again, Steven Russell bluffed his way out of prison. And yet again, he got caught.

Captive of Fantasy

A paroled sex offender is sent back to jail -- for trying to please his therapist

King Con

Steven Russell can bluff his way out of anything -- even prison. so why can't he stay out of jail?

In the Child's Best Interest

A legal technicality sent Donnie and DeAnne Fitts to a Houston court seeking to adopt Justin and Jacob Baker - again. Twelve jurors agreed that outcome would be the best for the children. Judge Bill Henderson didn't quite see it that way.

The Law East of Downtown

With his army of volunteer deputies, Victor Trevino is Harris County's most innovative and open lawman. But his sharp tongue hasn't endeared him to other politicians. And some wonder if all his power has gone to his head.

No Mercy

A law of good intent goes unused, and proponents say that's left victims further victimized

Too Pharr-out?

The GOP tried to peddle a story about Ann Richards' own "Willie Horton," but the state's press corps wasn't buying

Letters