COFFEE CITY, Texas — For anyone who received a ticket in Coffee City in the last several years, there’s a chance they won’t have to pay it.
One year later, the fallout related to Coffee City disbanding its police force -- amid allegations of questionable hiring practices -- remains ongoing.
Five former officers, the police chief and a former mayor were indicted on tampering with government records charges and fraudulent use of identifying information. CBS19 has learned hundreds of tickets written by these officers could be tossed out.
"It just blew my mind the corruption that's around this little town," resident Barbara Steele-Jones said.
The town of Coffee City in Henderson County is a small one with nearly 250 people; however its police force 14 months ago wasn't, there were 50 full time and reserve officers.
"Everyday, every time you went out they had somebody pulled over," resident Curtis Wallace said. "With the corruption and 50 police officers something has got to be going on to have that many people."
Our sister station in Houston, KHOU, exposed questionable hiring practices at the department and discovered former Police Chief John Jay Portillo failed to report a DUI charge against him. Just two weeks after those revelations came to light, the city council voted to dissolve the police department.
"There was some serious problems basically at the top," said Daniel Hunt, prosecutor for Coffee City.
So far, a grand jury has indicted seven former Coffee City officers on felony charges.
Three officers, Christopher Witzel, Kassondra Garcia and John Joslin, have had their charges dismissed. Cases for former officers Lonnie Hicks and Jerrod Sieck and former Mayor Frank Serrato remain pending. Former Coffee City Police Chief currently has a trial set for Jan. 14, according to judicial records.
"One is too many. One questionable officer is too many. And there are bad apples everywhere. I guess we had seven of them," Hunt said. "Any of the officers who have either plead or if they had a trial and been convicted I'm dismissing those tickets."
Hunt is seeking to erase 358 traffic citations, totaling more than $150,000. According to an open records request filed by CBS19, the printed dismissal list is 79 pages.
"I've probably issued over 300 motions to dismiss," Hunt said. "We don't want to make someone pay a fine if there's a question, a legitimate question as to whether or not they're guilty."
Hunt said drivers who were stopped and ticketed by one of the convicted officers don't need to do anything.
"A prosecutor is not there to convict people but to see the justice done. That's what the statue says and these people are innocent until proven guilty," Hunt said.
But Hunt said he doesn't know if there's any viable way to refund anybody or undo what had already been done.
So where are the former Coffee City police officers who were forced out of their jobs?
According to records from the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement, several officers were allowed to continue their law enforcement careers and were hired by neighboring East Texas agencies, including police departments in Rusk, Maypearl, Cuney, Sheperd and Payne Springs.
Dozens of the other officers left for jobs elsewhere. And 150 miles away in San Jacinto County, records show Shepherd ISD hired former Coffee City reserve police officer Peyton Robinson.
According to TCOLE, the veteran officer has been cleared of any wrongdoing.
"I know I wasn't involved in anything. I didn't do anything wrong but it was a shock that they disbanded and we really didn't know why at the time," Robinson said.
Robinson worked for the Coffee City Police Department from April to September 2020. He then left the department and was rehired again in January of 2021 until the department folded.
"People didn't know the whole story and they put all the officers together saying that everybody was bad there, which it wasn't," Robinson said.
The Henderson County Sheriff's Office and the Texas Department of Public Safety have taken over policing the town between Flint and Frankston.
"I can assure you if you call us and you need us we're coming," Henderson County Sheriff Botie Hillhouse said.
According to documents, the Henderson County Sheriff's Office has responded to 483 calls for service within the city since taking over.
"We're also spending time in there. If we made 55 traffic stops in that area that just goes to prove we're in the area when we're not being called," Hillhouse said.
Hillhouse said he's proud to be in law enforcement and has no tolerance for officers who abuse their power.
"At the end of the day I'm glad TCOLE did the investigation. I'm glad that their cases are filed and they're going to be prosecuted and we don't have to worry about those officers anymore," Hillhouse said.
If someone wants a copy of their ticket dismissal, Hunt asked that people make sure the court has their most updated address.
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