Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton on Tuesday agreed to pay nearly $300,000 in restitution under a deal to end criminal securities fraud charges that have shadowed the Republican for nearly a decade. The announcement by special prosecutors in a Houston courtroom came less than three weeks before Paxton was set to stand trial on felony charges that could have led to a prison sentence. It was the closest Paxton—who was indicted in 2015—has ever come to trial over accusations that he duped investors in a tech startup near Dallas, the AP reports.
Under the 18-month agreement, the special prosecutors would drop three felony counts against Paxton as long as he pays full restitution to his victims, and completes 100 hours of community service and 15 hours of legal ethics education. Paxton said nothing in the courtroom, other than affirming to state District Judge Andrea Beall that he signed the agreement, and he avoided reporters by leaving the court through a back door. But in a statement released later Tuesday, Paxton remained defiant following his latest legal and political victory. Just six months earlier, he was acquitted of corruption charges in an impeachment trial in the Texas Senate.
"There will never be a conviction in this case nor am I guilty," said Paxton, who also thanked his family and supporters "for sticking by my side." The agreement lets Paxton remain in his elected position and doesn't affect his law license. Houston attorney Brian Wice, who was a special prosecutor in the case, described the deal as a victory that requires Paxton to repay investors, including Byron Cook, a former GOP lawmaker who served with Paxton in the Texas Legislature, and the estate of Joel Hochberg, a South Florida businessman who died last year. Paxton had been accused of defrauding investors in a Dallas-area tech company called Servergy by not disclosing that he was being paid by the company to recruit them. (More Ken Paxton stories.)
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