Infomaniacs: April 07, 2011 (6:15am)

It’s kind of fitting that these announcements come on Voter Registration Day. First, Attorney General Ken Paxton announced the arrest of seven noncitizens who have been indicted for illegal activity related to the 2024 general election. For years, Attorney General Paxton has investigated ballot harvesting operations and illegal voting activity. As a result, numerous indictments, arrests, prosecutions, and charges have been made to protect the integrity of our elections. Attorney General Paxton had previously announced investigations into potential noncitizens voting in the 2024 election. Due to findings of the OAG, Attorney General Paxton, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Texas, the FBI, and HSI have collaborated to charge seven individuals in Texas for illegal voting activity. The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Texas indicted the individuals last week. “Foreign influence has no place in American elections. Today, my office is announcing our efforts to arrest foreigners who attempted to cheat the system and violate our laws that uphold election integrity,” said Attorney General Paxton. “I will not tolerate attempts to rig elections and silence the will of American citizens and voters. I will continue to fight to ensure that Texas has free and fair elections.” Mexican citizen Carlos Salas Barrios was arrested for Voting by an Alien. Nigerian national Joshua Nmelichukwu Akpom was arrested for False Statements in Relation to Naturalization. Nigerian national Helen Mayen Adams, Indian citizen Khalwinder Singh Bhengura, Mexican citizen Moises Anwar Arellano-Alba, Democratic Republic of the Congo national Celestin Kuasa Katubadi, and Mexican citizen Rocio Thrasher were all five arrested for both Voting by an Alien and False Statements of Citizenship in Order to Register to Vote. Also today, the Texas Secretary of State announced that 117 cases of potential noncitizen voting have been referred to the Office of the Attorney General for investigation. The action is part of a larger update on Texas’ ongoing efforts to review voter citizenship ahead of the Nov. 3 Election. “By law and according to our Constitution, citizenship is a requirement to vote in Texas, and we have a duty to ensure that only eligible voters participate in our elections,” Secretary of State Robert Howden said. “We also have a responsibility to make sure eligible citizens can exercise their right to vote, which is why we are taking great care with this data and conducting additional layers of due diligence.” Last fall, the agency ran the names of the state’s 18 million registered voters through the federal Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) database — a process that identified 2,724 potential noncitizens on the voter rolls. Those registrations were referred to county registrars to conduct their own investigations pursuant to state law. In the weeks following this initial crosscheck, the Office of the Texas Secretary of State partnered with the Department of Public Safety to conduct a manual review of the 2,724 cases. In addition, the agency asked counties to report back the results of their local investigations. This review narrowed the number of potential noncitizens. The additional review showed that 578 voters demonstrated citizenship. Of those, citizenship was proven for 506 because passport information was added to SAVE after the state’s initial run. The Office of the Texas Secretary of State advised counties to reinstate these registrations if they were removed. In 2025, Texas became one of the first states to participate in a pilot program with the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services to perform voter list maintenance using SAVE — the nation’s primary source for citizenship data that is widely used by state and local governments, including DPS. The deadline to register to vote in the next election is October 5th. To register to vote, or verify that you’re still on the voter rolls, visit votetexas.gov.

A teenager has been arrested after damaging two FLOCK cameras in College Station. Police say on August 28th, two cameras were damaged near Wellborn Road and Greens Prairie Road. The cameras had their wiring cut, they were draped with American flags, and there were anti-flock signs staked in the ground next to each camera. It was those signs that led to the arrest of 19-year-old Luke Raymond Cordray, of College Station. Investigators were able to track Cordray using the barcodes on the stakes. They say they were purchased at Lowe’s and with the help of the Lowe’s inventory system, they were able to show that three purchases of those stakes were made in the 48 hours prior to the police inquiry. One of those three purchases also included two American flags and wooden stakes. Surveillance video captured the teen making the purchased and walk to a vehicle, where they were able to view the license plate. Ironically, FLOCK cameras were able to track his vehicle’s movements and place him in the area at the time of the damage. The estimated cost of repairs is $400 per camera. Cordray was arrested on Monday and charged with Criminal Mischief involving damages between $750-$2,500. He was released on $5,000 bond.

A law firm in Houston today announced that the Blinn College District is being sued by a whistleblower who claims their dismissal from the college was retaliation. Former Houston District Attorney Kim Ogg now practices law with the firm, Gregor Wynne Arney, PLLC. According to a statement from Ogg, the whistleblower is suing the Blinn Junior College District, the Blinn College Police Department, Police Chief John Chancellor, and District Chancellor Mary Hensley after allegations about a civilian employee’s role in a student arrest and destroyed body-camera evidence. The claimant alleges retaliation and destruction of police evidence. Here is the media release: TEXAS — A whistleblower has filed a lawsuit against the Blinn Junior College District, the Blinn College Police Department, Police Chief John Chancellor, and District Chancellor Mary Hensley, alleging that the defendants retaliated against her after she reported to the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement (TCOLE) that a civilian district employee had impersonated a police officer during the arrest of a student in August 2023. TCOLE is the state agency responsible for regulating the licensing and certification of peace officers in Texas. The complaint alleges that the Blinn College District employee who posed as a police officer surrendered his peace officer license to TCOLE in 2018 as part of a plea agreement with the Montgomery County District Attorney’s Office in a domestic violence case. Nevertheless, he is the district’s safety and risk manager, a civilian, non-law enforcement position. The complaint further alleges that during TCOLE’s investigation, they discovered that years of Blinn College Police Department body-camera evidence, including footage from the August 2023 student arrest, had been destroyed by an unknown person. The mishandled evidence could affect individuals arrested by Blinn College Police since 2019 because Texas law requires notice to everyone whose criminal cases could be impacted, regardless of whether their cases have been resolved or closed. To date, according to the lawsuit, neither the Blinn College District nor their Police Department has provided such notice to anyone, a violation of Texas law. The lawsuit follows a Title IX Complaint filed with the District by the Whistleblower and investigated and dismissed by then Blinn College District Human Resources Director Marie Kirby. In late 2025, Kirby was the subject of a media investigation into Kirby’s criminal background and inquiry into whether or not Blinn leadership hired Kirby knowing of her prior arrest and criminal prosecution for a sex crime with a minor and subsequent revocation of her teaching license in 1998.