HOUSTON – Harris County Precinct 6 Constable Victor Trevino has been indicted on criminal charges, prosecutors said.
Trevino has been accused of abuse of official capacity, misapplication of fiduciary duties and two counts of tampering with a government document.
The indictments allege that Trevino used his elected position to induce on-duty uniformed deputy constables driving county vehicles to serve eviction and property vacate notices that were not related to the employment.
The Harris County District Attorney's Office alleges that there were improprieties in handling of funds related to Trevino's charity, CARE, and that Trevino presented campaign finance reports that didn't include contribution information that is required by law.
The charges came after a 14-month long investigation by the Harris County District Attorney's Office Public Integrity Division.
"This lengthy investigation produced dozens of witnesses and reams of records," said Bill Moore, chief of the Public Integrity Division.
Trevino's attorneys, Chip Lewis and Jessica Estrada, released a statement that read, in part: "We are disappointed that a grand jury chose to indict Constable Trevino. He will continue to serve his community while defending himself against these baseless charges. These allegations are not an indictment against his service as the Constable of Precinct Six. Rather, these allegations amount to claims of inaccurate bookkeeping, failure to satisfy innocuous accounting standards (relative to his charity) and deputies following vacate procedures that predate his administration."
If convicted, Trevino would face up to 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $10,000 on the misapplication charges and six months to two years in prison and a fine of up to $10,000 on the other charges.
Trevino was first elected as the Precinct 6 constable in 1988. Trevino graduated from the Houston Police Academy in 1976 and served as a Houston Police Officer for 13 years.
Trevino's wife is a retired Houston police officer.