Ken Paxton might settle 2015 criminal case, attorneys say

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HOUSTON — Ken Paxton, the suspended Texas Attorney General, might settle the 2015 criminal case against him for securities fraud if the Texas Senate convicts him in his impeachment trial and removes him from office, according to his attorneys.

“If Ken [Paxton] prevails we’ll go forward [with defending him in the 2015 criminal case]. If Ken loses [in the Texas Senate], that’s a kill shot to his political career,” said Dan Cogdell, one of Paxton’s defense attorneys to a question from WFAA. “So, that opens the door for resolution that’s not open right now.”

When pressed whether a resolution might be a settlement or plea bargain, Cogdell responded: “Dismissal, settlement, resolution. Who knows.”

Neither Kent Schaefer nor Brian Wice, the two special prosecutors in this case, would respond when asked if they would consider a plea bargain for Paxton.

“We’re not going to talk about that,” Schaefer said.

Minutes earlier, inside Judge Andrea Beall’s courtroom on the 17th floor of the Harris County Courthouse, Paxton sat alone on a bench behind the defense table. He wore a blue suit and Christmas-themed socks and carried a black backpack.

Two plain-clothes members of his security detail stood off to the side.

Paxton said nothing.

This case has languished for eight years and has many wondering whether it will ever go to trial.

“At some point it has to come to an end as all criminal litigation does. I think today was the first step in the journey of 1,000 miles to make sure that justice ultimately comes to be,” said Brian Wice, special prosecutor in this case.

The securities fraud case is different from the impeachment trial.

Impeachment is political. This is criminal.

Paxton is accused of trying to get people to invest in a McKinney tech company called Servergy, Inc., but prosecutors allege that Paxton did not tell investors the company was paying him.

“In a sense, this is actually more serious than the impeachment trial because it deals directly with his liberty. If convicted, you can’t vote, you can’t have a gun, you can be in jail for a period of time or have a suspended sentence or probation or home confinement. Look, I don’t think those things are going to happen based on my knowledge of what’s happening here but the facts are known to a small number of people,” said Matt Mackowiak, a veteran GOP consultant and chairman of the Travis County Republican Party.

Thursday's hearing lasted nine minutes.

Both sides agreed to reconvene on Oct. 6, when Judge Beall would set a trial date and rule on a motion to pay the special prosecutors.

After the brief hearing, Paxton’s security detail escorted him out a side door of the courtroom and back down a private elevator to a waiting vehicle.