ANAHUAC — Three prominent Jefferson County politicians have been indicted for campaign finance violations.
A Chambers County grand jury has handed down sealed indictments for Jefferson County Sheriff Zena Stephens, former Republican candidate for sheriff Ray Beck and former democratic candidate for sheriff Joe "QB" Stevenson.
MORE | Read the three indictments
The indictments are all related to allegations that they failing to report cash campaign donations from Beaumont car dealer Larry Tillery.
Tillery and his businesses were the subject of a 2017 raid by federal law enforcement officers.
The office of the Texas Attorney General confirmed in a news release Friday that the case initially came to their attention when details from an unrelated federal investigation were forwarded to the Texas Rangers.
Sheriff Stephens, 52, was charged with a state jail felony charge of tampering with a government record and two class A misdemeanor charges of accepting cash contributions exceeding $100 according to the release.
Her bond was set at $5,000.
Beck, 67, a retired Beaumont Police officer, was charged with two a class A misdemeanors for accepting a cash contribution exceeding $100 and failure to return a political contribution according to the release.
Beck told 12News the allegations involve incorrect reporting of a campaign donation.
Stevenson, 59, the chief deputy at the Jefferson County Precinct One Constables' office, has also been charged with a class A misdemeanor for have each been indicted on misdemeanor charges for accepting a cash contribution exceeding $100 the release said.
Both Beck and Stevenson's bonds are each set at $2,500.
If Stephens is found guilty of the felony charge, she could be removed from office, according to Gretchen Grigsby with the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement. Grigsby says, however, that Stephen's role as Sheriff is not affected by the indictment alone.
If Stevenson, or the sheriff, are convicted of a misdemeanor charge their peace officer commission may be subject to suspension and they could be subject to removal from office according to Gretchen Grigsby of the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement.
Their licenses could be suspended from 120 days to 10 years for a class A misdemeanor according to Grigsby.
A misdemeanor conviction could result in removal from office at the discretion of the Jefferson County Commissioner's court Grigsby said.
Sean Villery-Samuel, Sheriff Stephens' attorney, released a statement Friday...
"The charges, in this case, are a clear overreach by prosecutors who are willing to 'throw the baby out with the bathwater.'
We intend to vigorously defend Sheriff Stephens against these allegations. She has been a critical contributor to cleaning up the corruption and the politics-as-usual in Jefferson County.
We need her to continue to do so. We look forward to fully vindicating Sheriff Stephens so that she can focus on doing what the good people of Jefferson County elected her to do - serving and protecting."
The Jefferson County Republican Party chairman also released a statement on the charges. "We are deeply saddened by the current allegations and put our full trust and faith in our law enforcement and justice systems," Garret Peel said in the statement which was emailed to 12News.
A special grand jury was convened by the office of the Texas Attorney General which has been investigating the three with assistance from the Texas Rangers.
The attorney general investigated the allegations and convened the grand jury in Chambers County to ensure fair consideration
“No one is above the law. The conduct of the people indicted by the grand jury is illegal and erodes the public trust. Working with local and state law enforcement, my office intends to hold them accountable," Attorney General Paxton said in a news release Friday.
Stephens beat Beck in the 2016 general election to become the first female African-American sheriff in Texas history.
Sheriff Stephens beat Joe "QB" Stevenson and Rod Carroll in the Democratic primary race. Carroll was not named in any indictments.
This is a developing story. We will update with more as soon as we receive confirmed information.