Ex-Attorney General Dan Morales to Serve Time in Texarkana Prison

Laredo, TX, Morning Times ^ | 11-18-03 | AP

[Theodore R.]

Former attorney general to serve time in Texarkana

Associated Press

AUSTIN (AP) - Former Texas Attorney General Dan Morales, who was sentenced to prison last month after pleading guilty to mail and tax fraud, has been transferred to a federal prison in Texarkana to serve four years.

Morales had been held in the Caldwell County Jail in Lockhart since his sentencing Oct. 31. Caldwell County Sheriff Daniel Law confirmed Monday that Morales was transferred Friday, the Austin American-Statesman reported in its online edition.

Carla Wilson, a spokeswoman for the federal Bureau of Prisons in Washington, said Morales was moved to the Texarkana prison, a low-security unit housing 1,378 convicts. The prison also has an adjacent work camp housing another 251 inmates.

Morales, who was the state attorney general from 1991 to 1999, ran unsuccessfully for the Democratic gubernatorial nomination last year.

He was sentenced to four years in prison in connection with charges that stemmed from his handling of legal fees from the state lawsuit against the tobacco industry.

That tobacco lawsuit, which was settled, was to have been tried in Texarkana.

Morales also pleaded guilty to failure to pay income tax on campaign money he converted to personal use.

As attorney general, Morales hired private lawyers to pursue the case that produced a $17.3 billion settlement from big tobacco companies. A federal indictment later alleged he tried to steer $520 million in fees - part of $3.3 billion awarded to the private lawyers - to a Houston attorney who did little to no work on the case.

That lawyer, Marc Murr, also has pleaded guilty to federal charges and is awaiting sentencing.

11/18/03

[Fudd]

I noticed that Democrat party affiliation was buried in the fourth paragraph of the article, and then only by inference.

[Lunatic Fringe]

How fun do you think it is for a former Attorney General to serve time? Hehehe. I wonder if his cellmate will be someone he once prosecuted.

[Theodore R.]

Because Morales endorsed the Perry-Dewhurst ticket in 2002, some Democrats question his commitment to "democracy."

[Theodore R.]

There may be some there that voted for him in 1990 or 1994, but there might not be any that he sent to prison.