...It's Been a While

Harris County Commissioner Jerry Eversole in happier times

Harris County hasn't had one of its Commissioners indicted in quite a few years.  That changed on Monday (12/20) when a federal grand jury, following three long years of froth from the DOJ's public integrity section, handed down a five counter on Precinct Four chief Jerry Eversole.

Federal prosecutors are fond of indicting people during the holidays and adhered to that tradition as Eversole was hustled over to Rusk St. in leg irons and assorted chains a couple of days shy of Christmas Eve.  To call it a media circus would be an insult to self respecting circus performers everywhere.

Was this a Merry Christmas Indictment - or should we use something more politically correct?  Holiday True Bill?

Merely stepping into the dock at this storied address can confer a certain Lord Vader air to any presumably innocent defendant.  With a cast of former characters which includes Allen Sanford , Jeff Skilling and more Mexican drug cartel bandits than anyone can actually recall, the Southern District of Texas is eclipsed in the infamy department only by its sister court on Pearl street in lower Manhattan.

(Question:  after New York City, where is the largest concentration of Fortune 500 companies?  If you didn't say Houston... you're in danger of losing your status as a truly 'Linked-In' individual.)

Houston Periscope got a peek at the 31 page indictment from a well placed source a couple of days before it hit the Commissioner in his well proportioned jaw.  We were interested to note the inclusion of the boilerplate tax evasion Count.  Having some knowledge of the IRS code - and the generally unsuccessful record of federal prosecutors in securing convictions on these sorts of charges - we wonder if Eversole was offered the chance to plead to this Count?

Our source says Eversole has been negotiating a plea in this matter for several months, but we have no specific details on the talks.

Eversole's pal, a road building contractor with the unlikely name of Mike Surface, is alleged to have provided the Commissioner with everything from silk neck ties to room service to greens fees.  In return, he seems to have been granted (by virtue of Eversole's commanding 20% voting block on Commissioner's Court) somewhere around a hundred million dollars worth of goodies.

We don't know Eversole well  (OK - now that he's been indicted, let's just say we never knew him at all - similar to the inevitable claims his 'real' friends will soon be making) but we do know that he's not exactly a simpleton.  As well, Periscope can't claim to know much about what defense attorney Rusty Hardin is calling 'a 30 year friendship' between Eversole and Surface.  But we do know a little something about political chicanery.  If the Commissioner passed out all the pork described in the indictment and only got sixty grand and a couple of golf shirts for his trouble - we'll have to revise our opinion of him.

One thing's for sure, any enemy of Wayne Dolcefino (whose highest and best use days as a radio traffic reporter are, sadly, behind him) is, if not a friend of ours, at least someone we'd like to get to know a little better.

Maybe even play a few rounds of golf with.

*  *  *

Houston Periscope has a notion that the profoundly unlikely scenario of an indicted politician being innocent may apply in this case.  

However, we still would have probably taken the tax evasion plea...

Tomorrow:  Is having Dolcefino on your ass necessarily a bad thing?  

A round of golf with the Commissioner or snacks with Wayne?  Hard choices...