Democratic challenger still in Fort Bend Co. Commissioner Pct. 3 race despite several indictments

FORT BEND COUNTY, Texas (KTRK) -- The race for Fort Bend County Precinct 3 commissioner has made headlines multiple times over the last several months, as the Democratic challenger remains in the running despite being indicted nine times.

On Oct. 18, 2023, Pct. 3 Commissioner Andy Meyers requested an investigation from the Fort Bend County District Attorney's Office concerning the identity of the source behind several racially charged social media posts directed at his opponent, Taral Patel.

Meyers, the Republican incumbent, told investigators he recognized an account that went by the name "Antonio Scalywag" as someone who had attacked Patel before.

RELATED : Fort Bend Co. candidate who claimed to be hate speech target may have used 3rd persona, warrant says

The investigation eventually named Patel as the person accused of fabricating those posts under fake Facebook accounts that used other people's photos and making a collage of those posts that were sent out in a press release to allegedly gain support for his campaign.

Investigators with FBCDA said they linked the "Antonio Scalywag" account back to Patel after issuing a subpoena to Facebook and Google, which allowed them to obtain account data that matched Patel's address, phone number, Texas driver's license number, bank card number, and other personal information.

The Texas Rangers, shortly after, arrested 30-year-old Patel on June 12 for online impersonation and a Class A misdemeanor charge of misrepresentation of identity, which is found under the Texas Election Code.

RELATED: Fort Bend County candidate charged for allegedly faking racist social media attacks against himself

Since then, search warrants revealed links to other fake identities, including one that impersonated a real district judge and another that used a Pennsylvania realtor's photo.

Patel has racked up a total of nine indictments. The latest one came last month after a grand jury indicted him for allegedly harassing an unnamed person online. He's accused of sending multiple emails to another person with the intent to harass, annoy, alarm, abuse, torment, or embarrass them.

Patel was the former chief of staff for Fort Bend County Judge KP George. George is also accused of collaborating with Patel and using similar tactics to sway his re-election campaign in 2022. He has been indicted for misrepresentation of identity.

Meyers told ABC13 in September that he was surprised to find out that Patel and Fort Bend County Judge KP George were eventually named in the case.

"I did not know who that was at the time. I did it because the racist and hateful statements that were being sent out across the county were causing concern for my constituents," Meyers said. "My objective was to unmask whoever this Antonio Scalawag (name of the fake profile) really was, which I believe would simply make them stop doing this."

Patel and his attorney, Frank Yeverino, have not responded to multiple requests for comment from ABC13.

He has never addressed the allegations publicly and remains in the Pct-3 race despite multiple calls for him to drop out.

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