The Austin Statesman reports:
Austin real estate investor Nate Paul on Wednesday pleaded guilty to a charge of making false statements to a financial institution as part of a deal with prosecutors, ending a six-year legal saga. All other counts against Paul will be dropped under the terms of the agreement. He faces up to six months in prison. Paul will be sentenced in the coming weeks, after a federal presentencing investigation.
The deal ends a case that first drew public attention in 2019 when federal officials raided former developer Paul’s home and the offices in downtown Austin. Paul decried the raids as improper, and he later turned to Ken Paxton for help. Paxton’s relationship with Paul — and whether the attorney general abused his office to help him — became the center of allegations that led to 2023 impeachment effort against Paxton in the Legislature.
Austin’s NPR affiliate reports:
The indictment in June 2023 listed eight counts of making false statements to lenders. In November 2023 four more counts were added to the indictment to include wire fraud. Whistleblowers reported Paxton to the FBI in 2020 over concerns regarding his relationship with Paul.
The whistleblowers, who were former senior aides to the attorney general, alleged Paxton helped Paul investigate and harass business rivals, delay foreclosure sales of his properties and procure confidential records on the police investigating him.
The accusations were included as part of Paxton’s impeachment in 2023. Paxton was not named in court documents related to Paul’s case, but faced his own criminal fraud case before abruptly cutting a deal and getting all charges dropped just weeks before trial.
There’s much more at both links.
Austin real estate developer Nate Paul agreed to plead guilty Wednesday to one count of submitting false information to a financial institution.https://t.co/RAyAWsWTNx
— CBS Austin (@cbsaustin) January 15, 2025
Nate Paul pleads. Zero chance anything came of it that will affect Ken Paxton. Hope I’m wrong, but don’t think I am. This chapter is over. https://t.co/eAKvRbjl99
— Joe Jaworski (@JaworskiForTX) January 15, 2025