Aide to Houston mayor resigns after reportedly pleading guilty to public corruption

Mayor Sylvester Turner says he did not have knowledge of a federal public corruption case involving William-Paul Thomas, who resigned last week after pleading guilty to conspiracy to accept a bribe, according to the Houston Chronicle.


Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner said Wednesday that neither he nor anyone on his executive staff had prior knowledge of a federal public corruption case involving one of his top aides, who pleaded guilty early last week and subsequently resigned, according to a report from the Houston Chronicle.

William-Paul Thomas, who has worked as the mayor’s liaison to the Houston City Council since before Turner was elected in 2015, pleaded guilty July 25 in U.S. District Court and admitted to conspiracy to accept a cash bribe in exchange for helping a bar reclassify as a restaurant so it could circumvent COVID-19 restrictions, according to the Chronicle, which cited an anonymous source.

“No one on my executive team has been talked to or this subject has come up at all – literally,” Turner said. “… To the extent what is being reported is true, I will tell you that it will be disappointing.”

Rhonda Hawkins, the case manager for U.S. District Judge Andrew S. Hanen, who reportedly heard Thomas’ case, said Wednesday the case has been sealed and she was “not at liberty to provide you any information at this point.”

Read more: https://www.houstonpublicmedia.org/articles/news/city-of-houston/2022/08/03/429845/aide-to-houston-mayor-resigns-after-reportedly-pleading-guilty-to-public-corruption/