The 9th time appears to be charm when it comes to formal sentencing of convicted former City of Houston City Council Relations Director William-Paul Thomas.
Thomas is set to go before Judge Andrew Hanen in a downtown Houston federal courtroom on Monday morning at 8:30 a.m.
On January 16th, federal legal records show a “Final Presentence Investigation Report” was sealed and filed. That same day a “Confidential Sentencing Report (Sealed) as to William Paul Thomas” also was filed. According to legal experts the filings reflect that the case is nearing completion.
Thomas, who was the right-hand to Mayor Turner and stood behind him every week at Houston City Council, was convicted for conspiracy tied to cash bribes in the summer of 2022. The United States case against Thomas was considered so powerful that he admitted guilt in federal court without ever being indicted or directly charged. Experts telling KPRC 2 Investigates at the time an admission of that nature is not routing and the case must have been overwhelming for Thomas to not put up a legal fight.
The federal sentencing of Thomas comes two months after KPRC 2 Investigates exposed a “Porsche Partnership” between Thomas and former airport concessionaire Jason Yoo. The two men purchased a convertible Porsche together in April 2018 during a period when Yoo was asking Thomas to assist him in getting hundreds of thousands in airport fines dismissed. It is unclear if our bombshell investigation had any impact on the recent delays, but the investigation did catch many Houstonians by surprise.
The sentencing also is taking place over three months after it was made clear to Thomas that he was no longer on the hook for paying his attorney fees. A federal judge officially made Monique Sparks his attorney from the very beginning, a federally appointed public defender. Minutes after learning he would no longer have to pay for his attorney, KPRC 2 Investigates caught up with Thomas getting into a different convertible Porsche from the one we exposed him purchasing with Yoo.
Since our reports into the unique agreement KPRC 2 Investigates has learned federal and state prosecutors are aware of the “Porsche Partnership”.
KPRC 2 Investigates did ask former Mayor Sylvester Turner about Monday’s sentencing of his former friend and a member of his inner circle, “It’s not my deal Mario,” said Turner.
We will keep bringing you the latest on this case.
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