KP George, the first Indian American to be elected a judge in Fort Bend County, Texas, in 2018, has been found guilty of money laundering after a felony trial lasting more than a week.
George was accused of stealing from his donors by making two transfers totaling $46,500 from his campaign account to his personal account. Defense attorneys said the money wasn’t theft but repayment.
For more than a week, George’s felony trial took place at the county’s justice center in Richmond. On Friday afternoon, he was taken from the courtroom in handcuffs, Houston based KTRK reported.
George was facing two felony charges of money laundering, and he was found guilty of the third-degree felony, which carries a sentence of two to 10 years behind bars. Jurors rejected charging him with the state felony, which would have carried a sentence of 180 days to 2 years.
George elected to have the judge in the case decide his sentence, which will be handed down on June 16.
According to the Fort Bend County District Attorney’s Office, George will not be removed until the trial is complete, which happens when he is sentenced. George can be removed from office then, but if he appeals his sentence, he could remain as a judge. However, the DA’s office may ask for a suspension.
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Professor Mark Jones, who teaches political science at Rice University, previously told Eyewitness News that George wouldn’t be completely removed until all of his appeals are exhausted. His term would end before that took place.
KP George was taken from the courtroom in handcuffs and has bonded out of jail as of Friday evening.
This is not the first time George has had a brush with the law. In 2023, he was indicted along with his former chief of staff, Taral Patel, for manufacturing fake racist attacks against George’s 2022 campaign by creating fraudulent social media accounts.
George, the first person of South Asian descent to serve as Fort Bend County Judge was first elected to the post in 2018 and then re-elected in 2022.
Born in Kerala, India , he immigrated to the U.S. in 1993 on a visa to work for a financial firm. After working for the financial firm for a number of years, he opened his own financial planning business. He and his wife Sheeba moved to Sugar Land, Texas, in 1999.