Four Houston parole officers taken into custody
Posted on Jul 02, 2013
Four Houston parole officers were taken into custody having been indicted for accepting bribes from parolees. April Carson and Crystal Bureau were employed at the Houston parole office at 2410 Hamiliton. Darlene Muhammad and Ernie Rogers worked at the TDCJ parole office at 8435 Telephone Road. The unsealed indictment accuses the parole officers of accepting bribes ranging from $1,000 to $3,000. If convicted the accused face up to 20 years in prison and up to a $250,000 fine. The arrests were a result of a public corruption task force conducted by the FBI, Texas Rangers, HPD, and TDCJ.
These types of stories are very disturbing when they are about public figures or public employees in these types of jobs. In the context of parole the parole officer acts to some extent as both a prosecutor and a police officer. Their accusations and testimony can cause people to lose their freedom. To be clear just because an individual has been accused of a crime does not mean they committed the offense and it will be interesting to see their defenses.