To really get the full impact of the information in this article the reader should think back to the last hurricane and the damage and chaos and struggle it caused most people in this area. The scramble for gas and water and food. The wet dirty smelly carpet piled in front of one house after another. The heat, the muggy, steamy, air condition-less Texas heat. And the tears of small children wanting something that was always easily available before Hurricane Ike attacked their world.
Only when one remembers what they, and their friends and family, were going through, can the full impact of the infamous FEMA fraud case be assessed properly. Only when survivors remember the struggle does the idea of key elected officials making hundreds of thousands of dollars during our time of need, have its full affect.
If you are thinking back to that time as you read, then reading the following timeline of the first hint of illegal FEMA fraud will be in its proper perspective. When you read this account of the behavior of some of our elected officials on certain days between January 2009 and April 2012, you will see that after the storm there was an opportunity to curtail the immoral acts that yielded several local people big bucks and a big headache with the law. Especially troubling is the behavior of local law enforcement – from Sheriff Henry Patterson to Texas Ranger Frank Huff to District Attorney Mike Little.
Dates and times approximate-
January - February 2009:
Meeting in Mike Little's office:
In attendance- D.A. Mike Little, Texas Ranger Frank Huff – Sheriff Henry Patterson, Sheriff’s Captain Ken Defoor, Sheriff’s Captain Jim Cooper, Sheriff’s lead investigator Chip Fairchild and Constable Royce Wheeler.
1. Mike Little refused to take charges against Liberty County Judge Fitzgerald for criminal wrongdoing involving FEMA fraud and misuse of assets brought to him by Fairchild and Wheeler.
Meeting in Mike Little's office:
In attendance- D.A. Mike Little, Texas Ranger Frank Huff – Sheriff Henry Patterson, Sheriff’s Captain Ken Defoor, Sheriff’s Captain Jim Cooper, Sheriff’s lead investigator Chip Fairchild and Constable Royce Wheeler.
1. Mike Little refused to take charges against Liberty County Judge Fitzgerald for criminal wrongdoing involving FEMA fraud and misuse of assets brought to him by Fairchild and Wheeler.
2. Mike Little admonished Fairchild and Wheeler for bringing probable cause affidavits and evidence of alleged criminal wrongdoing by Phil Fitzgerald.
(Note: One theory is that D.A. Mike Little and Fitzgerald had a quid pro quo. Think about the possibilities. Fairchild is fired by Sheriff Patterson not long after this incident. And Patterson is NOT charged in the infamous Cleveland Police Department stolen guns case that Little is involved in. Constable Wheeler’s budget is cut and his daughter, who also works for the county, has her pay cut. Cooper is promoted, DeFoor resigns).
April 2009:
1. FBI was (FBI Agent, Stacy Hoepner) interviewing people around Fitzgerald.
2. According to sources Mike Little and Henry Patterson were both interviewed by the FBI and denied they had met regarding Fitzgerald and discussed any charges.
November 2009:
1. At the insistence of Fitzgerald, Sheriff Patterson authored a letter and DA Mike Little co-authored a letter clearing Fitzgerald of all charges- allegedly to get the FBI off Fitzgerald. (Letter here)
2. According to sources Mike Little and Henry Patterson were both interviewed by the FBI and denied they had met regarding Fitzgerald and discussed any charges.
November 2009:
1. At the insistence of Fitzgerald, Sheriff Patterson authored a letter and DA Mike Little co-authored a letter clearing Fitzgerald of all charges- allegedly to get the FBI off Fitzgerald. (Letter here)
2. The letter was then sent to Fitzgerald's defense attorney for immediate use and for evidence in trial.
3. DA Mike Little was then added to the top of Fitzgerald's defense witness list.
April 2012:
1. Recently- testimony was given and evidence was entered at Fitzgerald's pre-trial hearings where a letter was read into the record which stated that Henry Patterson and Mike Little cleared Fitzgerald of all criminal wrongdoings back in 2009- then Fitzgerald's attorney demanded that the Judge grant their motion to dismiss "with prejudice" BECAUSE of the letter from Patterson and Little. Judge denied the motion. (Letter dated November 2009.)
2. Open records act request was made to Mike Little and Henry Patterson for the "letter" in question, Mike Little tenders the letter effectively admitting his ownership of the letter in question as written by Patterson with a claimed endorsement by Mike Little.
3. When Little submitted the now infamous letter to a local news organization, he could have denied his role in the letter, the substance of the letter and his endorsement... but he did not- therefore he ratified the existence of the letter and its substance.
Lately it appears from news stories as if the feds are concentrating on the misuse and illegal acts concerning FEMA generators. But while generators were powering Phil Fitzgerald’s store, a larger plot was hatching. One that would be far more lucrative for Fitzgerald than selling beer and cigarettes in the aftermath of the storm. One that would have an over $600,000 payoff from FEMA.
At the time of this posting, charges against Mike Little and Henry Patterson for lying to federal investigators and impeding a federal investigation have not been filed. Texas Ranger Frank Huff and Captain Jim Cooper still hold the high positions responsible for protecting this community from crime that they had before they began their years of silence and there is no evidence that they have done further investigating for a possible quid pro quo- but rather a probable part of the overall "selective prosecution" scheme hatched by Mike Little and Henry Patterson.
Side bar: Liberty Dispatch has sent an open records act request to Henry Patterson for the November 20, 2009 letter. We will report to our viewers the outcome of that request. (PIA Request here)
See the Cleveland Advocate's related story.
21 comments:
I have lived in Liberty County for years and have watched as drugs have ruined the lives of too many of our teenagers. I have watched and waited to see what our D.A. and several sheriffs during that time would do. Would they arrest some of the known drug dealers from some of the better families in the county? No. This refusal to act and make arrests by Little and Patterson is why electing Bobby Rader and Karen McNair is essential. These two men decided this generator business was harmless and they turned their heads as Fitzgerald stuffed his pockets with ill gotten gain. That decision was not Little and Patterson's to make. They are just like the current President, picking winners and losers - and it just so happens the people they decide to help also help them in return. I look forward in November to voting against Obama. And I look forward even more to voting May 29th and replacing Little with Karn McNair and Patterson with Bobby Rader. the dates are marked on my calendar!
Dont forget candidate Logan Picket who Mike Little is trying to get elected for DA, the only one who can continue to hide crimes for Little after he is gone.
I agree with the poster above. Isnt it odd that for the past 30 years Mike Little has been in office there has NEVER been a real drug bust in Liberty County?????????????????? Who has Mike Little been covering for on the drug movement in and through Liberty County?????????????????? Would this be the same people he wants Logan Pickett in office for/to replace him for???????????????????
Ditto on the anger and disappointment expressed about Mike Little. I have viewed the Littles and the Picketts as fine community-minded citizens. In order for me to retain my regard for them, I need themto be a private citizen just like the rest of us and allow others who have a stronger resolve to dispense justice.
I wonder who in Moss Hill is moving the drugs? I bet I can think of a name, hmmmm
This whole mess may have not embarrassed our county if these men had done their job. Fitzgerald should have been confronted. he should have been fined.he probably should have resigned. But he must have been emboldened after seeing the biggest crime fighters in the county protect him. I almost feel sorry for him. If Patterson and Little lied to the FBI, they should not escape because of "who they are". It is important for law enforcement to follow the same laws they demand the rest of us to. The rule of law is at stake.
This kind of $hit angers me it is still part of the old Liberty County hanging on for dear life.
How can anyone defend these people, much less continue to vote for them or their minions?
Ouch! Now let's see the Liberty-lovers try and pee on Karen McNair just because she is from Dayton and she is not a Pickett. LD needs to check out the DA's office a little closer - they are not clean.
I am sick of this FEMA case. When will heads roll?
Where were Todd Fontenot and Melvin Hunt when all this was going on? We all should know where they were!
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What do our young people who have appeared before Fitzgerald when he was a JP think I wonder? What kind of respect for a system headed by a DA that covers up for some and goes after others?
What? Drug dealers in LC? Not prosecuted? EXACTLY... they name city parks and by-passes after them! They also sit on little league and housing authority boards, to protect their customer bases.
Good story guys and gals, keep up the good work.
Yep, and ole Phil moved his scam operation to Chambers County to help clean up on some more FEMA money. I don't guess the FEDS knows about that? I know our Federal government runs slow but this has been three year ago.
Now is the time to clean house. Get rid of that RINO, Democrat turned Republican, Timothy "Turncoat" Allison, Constable Prec. No. 1. No mas, mi amigo!
Selective prosecution by Mike Little...PROVEN! Bet Buddy Craig and Janet Harrelson would have a little to say about that.
they start youth organizations, "to protect their customer bases," too. They also work as drug abuse counselors (read: promoters and pushers) for the same reason. Anybody want to check and see how many social workers and counselors are drug industry folks?
Everywhere that there's kids, and no background checks
(or incomplete info in the system- such as:
*the youth organizations' founding officers, who exempted themselves and friends from the background checks, or
*unreported crimes, or
*crimes from other locales...)
you'll find the drug trade (and the pedophiles, as well)!!!
Parents, you're the only consistent protectors that the kids have.
Just because "volunteers" did so (and they may be 'professionals' in the drug and sex criminal sets,) doesn't make them trustworthy... watchful, be ever watchful!
A corrupt DA is even more dangerous than a corrupt sheriff, and a corrupt sheriff is a clear and present danger to us all. Even if all the conclusions or speculations were not totally accurate the smell test was failed long ago by the DA's office and the sheriff. If for no other reason than to clear the air we need McNair. Hey, that rhymes: Clear the air vote McNair.
Fairchild and Wheeler did the right thing, too bad Little and Patterson are incapable of doing the right thing. Both a stain on the underwear of Liberty County.
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