My mom is in Harris County Jail - Texas

[hootysgirl]

Hi Everyone,
My name is Becky and I'm from Baytown, Texas. My mother is currently in Harris County Jail on Baker Street. She has been there since Oct.13, 2007.
She was charged with embezzelment (sp?) 10yrs ago and recieved probation for 10 years. Within those 10 yrs she was required to pay $100,000.00 back. She still has a balance of $67,000.00 and her probation has come to an end. She was issued a warrant for her arrest and she turned herself in on the date above. Her probation officer told her that she would probably be in there for 1 wk and they would more and likely give her more time to pay that money off. That was not the case. When she went to court she was assigned a court appointed attorney and the judge wanted to give my mom 4yrs state ! The money that she stole was from the school district in our town. My mother did not sign the offer that the judge made, so right now I'm trying to get as much info, such as tax returns, check stubs, ect., to give to her attorney because she is going back to see the judge on 11/27/07.
This is so overwhelming for me and I'm pretty sure that you guys can relate. It is hard to have a loved one in jail. I wanted to know if anyone out there is maybe in the same situation and what the outcome would be? She thinks she will have to do some jail time, but I just think 4yrs is so long especially since she was on probation for 10yrs. I do not want ya'll to think I'm making excuses for her, it just seems like a long time. I also have my brother who is mentally ill and is dependant on my mother .
I'm glad to have found this forum and from what I have read and posted before EVERYONE seems nice and very helpful.
Thank you for taking time to read my post and I hope to hear from someone ;-)

God Bless Everyone,
Becky

[ANTROROMOM]

hootysgirl,
No one is here to judge you or your family. We all have a loved one in prison for whatever reason. Regardless, we still love and care for them. You will find lots of support here. I don't have any answers for you but I'm sure someone else will come along w/ some advise. Welcome to PTO. I'm glad you found us. Hang in there and God Bless...

[pams lilsis]

sounds like double jeparody she has already finished her probation

[KatyBee]

Hi Becky, I don't have any experience with something like this but I want to welcome you to PTO. We are here for you any time you need us. Keep us posted on how things are going. Good luck! Katy

[dawna9375]

It's not double jeopardy since she did not keep up her restitution payments. When she was put on probation, she was told you have to pay XX amount of dollars every month in order to accomplish this 100k amount in 10 years. I can only imagine the amount this had to be, plus the fees to the PO. (My hubby had to pay 18k in restitution over 10 years and the payment was over 200/mo) When they accept this probation, they KNOW this. She also could have been picked after missing only a few payments so I am actually surprised that they let her finish out the 10 years before realizing how far behind she was. She won't get any new charges, AND they will probably still make her pay the rest of the money back after she serves some time and is released again. It royally SUCKS, but that's the justice system in texas. Good Luck!

[clcmm]

Originally Posted by dawna9375

It's not double jeopardy since she did not keep up her restitution payments. When she was put on probation, she was told you have to pay XX amount of dollars every month in order to accomplish this 100k amount in 10 years. I can only imagine the amount this had to be, plus the fees to the PO. (My hubby had to pay 18k in restitution over 10 years and the payment was over 200/mo) When they accept this probation, they KNOW this. She also could have been picked after missing only a few payments so I am actually surprised that they let her finish out the 10 years before realizing how far behind she was. She won't get any new charges, AND they will probably still make her pay the rest of the money back after she serves some time and is released again. It royally SUCKS, but that's the justice system in texas. Good Luck!

I believe Dawna is on the right track here with her comment, my question would be, if she was jailed because of a violation of probation, how can it be violated if they let her complete it. I think they can extend the probation until all restitution is paid. You would need the terms of her probation, and her lawyer should be able to give you a feel for what the D.A. is going for, and alot also so depends on how fully she complied with her probation over all...there are so many factors...You also have to consider what mood the judge is in...its all a flip of the coin!!

[dawna9375]

another factor is that this offense was against the school district. The judge is not going to look at it lightly...