HOUSTON (AP) — Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton will face trial in April on charges of securities fraud, a judge ruled on Monday. This comes more than eight years after Paxton was indicted and just a month after he was acquitted in an impeachment trial involving separate corruption allegations.
It was in the courtroom where state District Judge Andrea Beall of Houston set the trial date, April 15, for this long-delayed criminal case. The charges against Paxton stem from 2015 when he was accused of deceiving investors in a tech startup.
Initially, these felony charges posed a threat to Paxton’s political career. However, he has managed to thrive within the Texas GOP, winning re-election twice since his indictment and becoming even more influential.
The scheduling of the trial coincides with Paxton’s political resurgence following his acquittal on impeachment charges. He has returned to his position as Texas Attorney General and is now supporting primary challengers against Republicans who led the impeachment investigation.
Although Paxton’s acquittal brought some relief, he is still under investigation by the FBI for alleged abuse of office.
The allegations of defrauding investors in the Texas startup, Servergy, date back over a decade to around 2011. Special prosecutors assigned to the case claim that Paxton, who was a state lawmaker at the time, failed to disclose that he was being compensated for recruiting investors.
If convicted, Paxton could face a prison sentence of five to 99 years.
