The misdemeanor identity misrepresentation trial of former Fort Bend County Judge KP George, originally scheduled to start Tuesday, has been reset to July 21.
Prosecutors with the Fort Bend County District Attorney’s Office said they asked for the matter to be delayed until after George is sentenced July 16 in a felony money laundering case. George was in court Tuesday with his attorney Jared Woodfill, and raised no objections to the reset date.
The DA’s office has previously suggested that it could drop the misdemeanor charges since George has already been convicted of the more severe money laundering crime, for which he faces up to 10 years in prison.
Woodfill said Monday night he hadn’t heard anything about a continuance and he was prepared to go to trial, although he’d prefer the lesser case be dismissed immediately rather than waiting on the outcome of the felony sentencing. “Why don’t they just call it a day right now, if that’s what they’re going to do?” he said. “If they get a big sentence, they’ve already got their pound of flesh.”
George, who was removed from office last month, has maintained his innocence in both cases.
The misdemeanor identity misrepresentation charge stems from claims that George schemed with a former staffer to create fake social media accounts under the name Antonio Scalywag to win favor with voters. The former staffer, Taral Patal, was expected to testify against George.
In the felony case, George was convicted on March 20 of taking more than $46,000 out of his campaign funds to buy a new home and pay property taxes, among other things.
Woodfill has said that George repaid himself for personal loans he made to his re-election campaign, a practice the lawyer says is legal and common. The defense attorney also has alleged that District Attorney Brian Middleton is pursuing a political vendetta, a claim the DA has refuted.
George has opted for District Judge Maggie Jaramillo, a Republican seeking re-election in November, to decide his punishment next month in the money laundering case, rather than the jury that convicted him.
