A jury trial originally set to begin Tuesday was pushed to May 5, as the strange saga of Fort Bend County Judge KP George inches forward.
The new court date means that George’s felony money laundering trial — which could result in prison time — is scheduled to occur before the misdemeanor case in which he’s accused of creating a fake Facebook profile under the name “Antonio Scalywag” to garner support from voters in a 2022 re-election campaign.
George’s attorney Jared Woodfill requested a continuance after new evidence was presented in the misdemeanor case. Woodfill maintains that George had nothing to do with the social media hoax and is being targeted in a political vendetta by Fort Bend County District Attorney Brian Middleton.
Middleton and George were once friends and allies but the relationship soured when George was indicted on the misdemeanor charges in September 2024. George switched parties from Democrat to Republican in mid-2025, shortly after he was indicted on the money laundering charges.
Middleton, a Democrat, and George are both running for re-election this year, with primaries set in March and a general election in November. George’s felony case is set for trial on February 3.
The battles in the courtroom have turned ugly, with Woodfill accusing Middleton of having knowledge of the Facebook scam as it was unfolding years ago, an allegation the DA has vehemently denied.
The DA’s office in turn has said that George is making desperate attempts to try to get the charges dismissed. Prosecutors have asked that Woodfill be sanctioned for allegedly lying to the media and the public, a matter that hasn’t been ruled on yet.
In the misdemeanor case, prosecutors allege that George worked with a former staffer, Taral Patel, to fake racist attacks against George’s re-election campaign. Patel pleaded guilty and was offered probation. He’s expected to testify at trial.
George’s attorneys have released text messages between Patel and Middleton that they say offer damning evidence of prosecutorial misconduct by Middleton. Again, the DA’s office has denied those allegations.
If convicted of identity misrepresentation, George faces a fine of up to $4,000 and up to a year in county jail. A misdemeanor conviction doesn’t result in automatic removal from office, but a felony conviction does, said Second Assistant District Attorney Wesley Wittig, a spokesman for the office.
Wittig acknowledged that it may be challenging for George to preside over commissioners court if he’s sentenced to a year in jail, but said jail time can be done on weekends or “in a variety of ways.”
“Just because these are punishment ranges does not mean that probation is not an option,” he said. “Probation in both of these cases is possible.”
The DA’s office has not yet revealed what sentences it will request for either of the offenses, and while guilt or innocence will be determined by juries, George’s lawyers can request that a judge hand down the punishment.
Wittig said he believes this is the first time the Fort Bend County DA’s Office has prosecuted an identity misrepresentation case that involves social media.
“Social media is very commonly used in any crime,” Wittig said. “Everybody is on their phone and everybody is communicating digitally these days. Working with digital evidence is not new, but that is not usually how the crime is committed. It can just provide evidence regarding a different crime being committed. For example, the device might put your location where the crime happened when you said you weren’t there, or maybe you post pictures of guns and drugs, where it’s kind of secondary to the crime.”
“This will be the first one, I think, where we’re delving into the nature of using social media as an instrument of crime,” he added.
Wittig said he expected the misdemeanor trial would take about two weeks and the felony trial would last about a week.
“They’re different offenses,” he said. “The felony is more financially based. I think that’s more straightforward than the misdemeanor, which has a few more witnesses.”
He said he expects the felony trial to move forward as planned in February. In that case, prosecutors say the judge used campaign funds to make a down payment on a home and buy an SUV for personal use, among other things.
So if George is sent to prison on the felony next month, will the DA’s office continue pursuing the misdemeanor charges?
“When the misdemeanor got set first, we were going to try it first,” Wittig said. “If the felony gets tried first, I don’t know what that will mean for the misdemeanor after the fact. It may not matter so much, but we want to keep all of our options open until we have some decisions.”
County Judge Race
The race to unseat George is already crowded and contentious.
Precinct 4 Commissioner Dexter McCoy, George’s former chief of staff, filed in early December following a contentious showdown over redistricting.
Fort Bend County’s new commissioner precincts — two Republican and two Democrat — took effect on January 1. The new maps shifted from the previous boundary lines, which reflected three Democrat-majority precincts. McCoy, a Democrat, opposed the maps, saying they “fracture established communities and prioritize political gain over representation.”
McCoy is backed in his bid for county judge by U.S. Congresswoman Lizzie Fletcher, Harris County Attorney Christian Menefee and Houston City Council member Tiffany Thomas. Once McCoy filed, former Fort Bend Constable Nabil Shike switched from the judge’s race and is now running for McCoy’s seat against McCoy’s preferred candidate, Nicole Roberts.
McCoy was first elected to the Fort Bend County Commissioners Court in 2022. In his campaign announcement, the former Obama staffer took some not-so-subtle jabs at the GOP.
“Our community is tired of Trump-style politicians who put their own ambitions ahead of the needs of the people,” he said. “We deserve leaders focused on what actually matters: expanding access to affordable housing, improving healthcare, public safety, and creating better-paying jobs.”
Other Democratic candidates seeking to unseat George include District Court Judge Christian Becerra, Sugar Land Municipal Court Associate Judge Rachelle D. Carter, political consultant Muzzammil Sajjad and Emergency Services District 7 Commissioner Ferrel Bonner.
George is on the ballot as a Republican along with former Sugar Land City Council member Daniel Wong, CPA Kenneth Omoruyi and real estate agent Melissa Wilson. Sugar Land attorney Jim Narvios is running as an independent.
It was once stated that George’s legal troubles would likely be over in time for the March primary, but with the misdemeanor trial delay, that’s no longer the case. Wittig said Tuesday the timing of the trials has nothing to do with politics.
“What we do, despite the defense’s claims, is not politically motivated,” he said.
This article appears in Private: Jan 1 – Dec 31, 2026.