Post by WaTcHeR on Feb 1, 2006 11:06:42 GMT -5
02/01/2006- A former Texas state trooper was sentenced today to two years in prison for stealing money from a motorist he had stopped.
Christopher McKinney, 28, pleaded guilty in July to theft by a public servant. Prosecutors said he stole $4,900 from a driver he stopped on Oct. 21, 2004 in the 6700 block of Highway 6 in southwest Houston.
The third-degree felony carries a possible sentence of two to 10 years in prison, said Sam Knight, McKinney's attorney.
McKinney was on duty, in uniform and driving his marked Department of Public Safety cruiser when he stopped a driver at night, prosecutors said. After he took the money from the man's wallet and left, the driver contacted Houston police.
McKinney, who had been with the DPS about two years at the time, repaid the stolen money as part of his plea agreement and quit the force.
Knight said that, as part of his plea deal, McKinney also paid a total of $500 to two other people who reported that he had stolen money from them in a similar manner. He was not prosecuted for those incidents.
He did not admit to stealing from them, but agreed to pay them in an effort to resolve the allegations, Knight said.
McKinney was arrested in January last year after investigators traced a license plate number, reported in four similar incidents, to him, prosecutors said.
Assistant Harris County District Attorney Joe Owmbysaid McKinney admitted the October 2004 theft and others. He said prosecutors could not gather sufficient evidence to prosecute him for the other thefts.
Owmby said investigators determined that McKinney stole the money because he needed cash for family expenses, but that he was not involved in drug deals or gambling.
He appeared to target people who he thought might be immigrants who would be afraid to report the thefts, Owmby said.
The motorist in the October 2004 theft had planned a trip to visit relatives in a foreign country and perhaps give them the money, Owmby added.
Christopher McKinney, 28, pleaded guilty in July to theft by a public servant. Prosecutors said he stole $4,900 from a driver he stopped on Oct. 21, 2004 in the 6700 block of Highway 6 in southwest Houston.
The third-degree felony carries a possible sentence of two to 10 years in prison, said Sam Knight, McKinney's attorney.
McKinney was on duty, in uniform and driving his marked Department of Public Safety cruiser when he stopped a driver at night, prosecutors said. After he took the money from the man's wallet and left, the driver contacted Houston police.
McKinney, who had been with the DPS about two years at the time, repaid the stolen money as part of his plea agreement and quit the force.
Knight said that, as part of his plea deal, McKinney also paid a total of $500 to two other people who reported that he had stolen money from them in a similar manner. He was not prosecuted for those incidents.
He did not admit to stealing from them, but agreed to pay them in an effort to resolve the allegations, Knight said.
McKinney was arrested in January last year after investigators traced a license plate number, reported in four similar incidents, to him, prosecutors said.
Assistant Harris County District Attorney Joe Owmbysaid McKinney admitted the October 2004 theft and others. He said prosecutors could not gather sufficient evidence to prosecute him for the other thefts.
Owmby said investigators determined that McKinney stole the money because he needed cash for family expenses, but that he was not involved in drug deals or gambling.
He appeared to target people who he thought might be immigrants who would be afraid to report the thefts, Owmby said.
The motorist in the October 2004 theft had planned a trip to visit relatives in a foreign country and perhaps give them the money, Owmby added.