Fort Bend County Judge KP George’s court appearances are ramping up as the chief elected official was granted a continuance on a misdemeanor case last week and will find out Friday if a presiding officer from another jurisdiction will hear his felony case.
George is charged with misdemeanor identity misrepresentation, with prosecutors alleging he worked with a staff member to fake racist attacks against his own campaign on social media in an effort to gain favor with voters. Following a June 13 hearing in which attorneys on both sides asked for more time to review digital evidence, records show George is due back in County Court at Law No. 5 on the misdemeanor at 9:30 a.m. June 27.
But before that, George will head back to the courthouse this Friday, June 20, to find out if his request for a new judge in his felony money laundering case will be granted.
George, 61, was arrested April 4 on two counts of laundering between $30,000 and $150,000, a third-degree felony, which carries a potential sentence of two to 10 years in prison and fines of up to $10,000. He bonded out of county jail and presided over a Fort Bend County Commissioners Court meeting days later.
George’s attorney Jared Woodfill maintains that the judge gave himself a campaign loan, a common practice when running for office, and paid it back, but the paperwork was not filed properly. The indictment alleges that George laundered money between January and April 2019, with “intent to defraud or harm.” George was re-elected to his second term in 2022.
Asking for a new judge is a reasonable request, his attorneys have said, since George oversees all aspects of county government, including the budgets of district judges. er the matter of the presiding judge is resolved, a hearing on the felony case is set for June 26.
The felony and misdemeanor cases against George are politically motivated and should be dismissed, Woodfill says. Fort Bend County DA Brian Middleton has refuted he allegation of a vendetta and says he is committed to the pursuit of justice.
In the misdemeanor social media hoax case, George’s former chief of staff, Taral Patel, pleaded guilty April 15 to two counts of misdemeanor misrepresentation of identity by a candidate and was sentenced to probation.
It is unclear to what extent Patel implicated George in the hoax, but officials with the DA’s Public Integrity Unit have said Patel admitted he did not work alone and George is the only other person who has been charged.
As investigators were reviewing evidence in the social media hoax case, the campaign paperwork discrepancy came to light and George was indicted on those charges by a Fort Bend County grand jury. Woodfill said Middleton wants the judge out of office because he has not voted in lockstep with the Democratic Party on several issues in recent months.
“There’s a schism in the Democratic Party in Fort Bend and Judge George is on one side and Middleton is on the other,” Woodfill has said.
Representatives of the Fort Bend County District Attorney’s Office have repeatedly said they don’t want to litigate the cases in the media.
“We are prepared to make our arguments in court and trust the judge to make the best decision for the citizens of Fort Bend County,” Assistant District Attorney Wesley Wittig said Monday.
