Prosecutor: Constable would cash charity checks, head to casinos

HOUSTON (KTRK) -- Precinct 6 Constable Victor Trevino, facing a series of charges including that he took money for personal use from a charity he founded, told Harris County jurors Friday he did nothing wrong.

Trevino's long-awaited trial comes three years after a series of ABC-13 reports raising issues surrounding Trevino's use of the money that flowed through CARE, the East End constable's nonprofit charity.

Former ABC-13 Undercover reporter Wayne Dolcefino, now a consultant, took the stand Friday to outline his 2003 reporting.

In particular, he spoke about how his reports showed a lack of documents detailing how thousands of dollars in Trevino charity funds were spent and showing how many checks from the charity were simply cashed at local East End convenience stores.

Dolcefino will be cross-examined Monday.

Harris County prosecutor Bill Moore also laid out the state's findings to the jury.

"Precinct 6 had become a fundraising machine," Moore said. "Victor Trevino was cashing those checks himself."

Moore told the jurors the state's team tracked Trevino to casinos just hours after cashing some of those checks.

"Quite a few of these checks were cashed the same day that Victor Trevino and his wife would go to Louisiana and deposit large amounts of cash in slot machines," Moore told the jury.

Trevino directed his employees to deposit cash in personal accounts, paid his rodeo ticket bill with some of the cash and had employees buy lottery tickets for the constable, Moore said.

Trevino's lawyer, Chip Lewis, told the jurors they will have more questions than answers after this case. Lewis blamed any errors with charity money on a Trevino employee who has since been given immunity by the state to testify.

"You will have only one question, which is why is Victor Trevino the one who was charged in this case?" Lewis said. "He will take the stand and he will answer every question."

If convicted, Trevino faces 10 years in prison.