BOTH SIDES LAY OUT THEIR CASE
Opening statements in the trial against Fort Bend County Judge KP George took place on Thursday. It came after two days of jury selection.
The jury of 12 men and two women heard about a half-hour of opening statements. Charann Thompson from the Fort Bend County District Attorney's Office gave the opening statement.
For about 10 minutes, she told jurors the reason why George was charged with two counts of money laundering stems from his use of $46,500 campaign. After he was elected as county judge in 2018, Thompson told jurors he received a lot of contributions.
By the end of the year, she said he had more than $30,000 in his campaign funds, but the records only showed about $400. That's because Thompson said George transferred $30,000 to his personal account.
The reason she said was that he wanted to buy a home and needed $50,000 for the down payment. Thompson said George made the payment in April, but needed more money.
That's when she said George held more campaign fundraising events in March. After that, she said George transferred $16,500 to his personal account.
The two transfers she told jurors about allowed George to make the down payment on the house. While Thompson said candidates are allowed to give themselves money to repay campaign loans, she said George never disclosed on forms that he was doing so with the two wire transfers.
Defense attorney Jared Woodfill spent about 20 minutes explaining to jurors why what George did wasn't illegal. Woodfill told jurors about George's background, coming to America, and wanting to serve the community.
He talked about George's unsuccessful campaign for county treasurer in 2009 and his U.S. Congressional campaign in 2012. During those campaigns, Woodfill said George loaned himself money, especially because he struggled to raise contributions as an unknown candidate.
Woodfill said George transferred money to himself in 2019 to pay himself back after years of giving himself loans. Actions that Woodfill said are not illegal.
FIRST WITNESS DIVES INTO GEORGE'S FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
The first witness called in the George trial was John Bohannon, who works in the economic division of the DA's office. Bohannon said he started to look into George's financial records in 2024 after they received a complaint against George related to racist social media posts.
George was charged with a misdemeanor in a fake, racist social media scheme involving his former chief of staff, Taral Patel. Patel pleaded guilty to that case in 2025.
George is scheduled to go to trial for the fake posts in May. The trial that started this week is over campaign funds.
Bohannon said they reviewed George's financial records from the previous seven years. What he found was two "suspicious" wire transfers from George's campaign to his personal savings account.
The first happened in January 2019. Bohannon said $30,000 was transferred from the campaign to George's savings account.
He said days later, George transferred $14,000 to a joint checking account he shared with his wife. Bohannon said $14,000 worth of checks were written from the checking account shortly after.
He said the money was used to pay for HOA dues and property taxes for properties he owned in Fort Bend County and Brazoria County. Without the $14,000, Bohannon said George wouldn't have had enough money to cover the checks he wrote.
In March, he said there was another wire transfer for $16,500 from George's campaign to his savings account. In April, Bohannon said George withdrew about $52,000 for a down payment on a house.
Without the two transfers, Bohannon said George wouldn't have had enough money for the payment. Bohannon also said George had repaid himself from campaign funds, but the amounts were small, and George always used a check, not wire.
GEORGE TURNS TO PRAYER PRIOR TO THE TESTIMONY STARTING
Since George was charged, he's maintained his innocence. He also switched political parties.
He was elected twice as a Democrat to the county judge position, but switched parties in 2025 to become a Republican. District Attorney Brian Middleton is a Democrat.
George said the charges against him are politically motivated. On Tuesday, George told ABC13 he's done nothing wrong and hopes this trial will vindicate him.
Before jurors walked into the courtroom and testimony began, George was seen praying. If convicted in the money laundering trial, George faces 10 years in prison and immediate removal from office.
THE TRIAL COULD LAST FOR DAYS
Judge Maggie Jaramillo said the trial is expected to last upwards of six days. During jury questioning, prosecutors showed jurors a list of eight potential witnesses.
The defense also told jurors that Commissioner Dexter McCoy, who worked in George's office, and Patel could be called as witnesses.
If the jury convicts George, they won't set a punishment. He reportedly chose to have Jaramillo set the punishment if he's convicted.
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