Matthews gets four years on three counts

CLEBURNE – John Winchester Matthews, the man once believed to be in line to become the next Johnson County judge if higher political office didn’t call him first, pled guilty Tuesday to felony charges of abuse of position, falsifying records and theft.
He was sentenced by District Judge John Neill to two 4-year concurrent terms in prison and at least five years probation in the 18th District Court at the Guinn Justice Center.
“When you are an elected official, you will be held accountable,” Hanna said. “He resigned in disgrace. He’ll never be an elected official anywhere again.”
Matthews served for 8 1/2 years as the elected commissioner for Precinct 2 at a time when gas drilling and population boomed in Burleson, Joshua and surrounding northeastern areas of the county he served.
“It’s a sad day for John, his family and the residents of Johnson County,” said Matthew’s legal counsel Tim Evans. “He’s looking forward to getting this behind him. He’s accepted responsibility. One of the toughest things for him is feeling he let down the county and the residents he had come to know.”
A jury trial had been set to begin Sept. 10. Instead, the former commissioner plead guilty to the first, second and fourth felony counts during his seventh court appearance since January in exchange for a lighter sentence.
Six other felony counts faced Matthews.
“We as elected officials should be held to a higher standard,” Precinct 4 Commissioner Don Beeson said. “In John’s case, he made a lot of good contributions that should be remembered. I hope people will remember the good that he did, as well as the bad decisions that he made.”
Matthews will be required to pay $5,000 in restitution to Johnson County for theft pertaining to the Burleson Star’s investigation of 72 receipts released by the county auditor’s office that had been reviewed, with some found to be questionable and some not. It led more than a year ago to Matthews’ tearful resignation. The theft involved the use of the county’s Home Depot credit card.
The questionable purchases ranged from soap and paper products, pool supplies and tools allegedly not applicable to princict operations to such purchases as a Boston fern, bottled water, Febreze, folding chairs, leaf rakes, stain remover, water hoses, Christmas lights, bamboo shades, a flag kit, Ryobi tools and an umbrella. There were various quantities of 72 products purchased which were included on those receipts, but it wasn’t clear Matthews made the purchases.
That count, and others, could have led to the most notable officials in the county’s Republican party being placed on the witness stand.
County Judge Roger Harmon, Beeson, Commissioner Jerry Stringer and Johnson County Auditor J.R. “Kirk” Kirkpatrick were on the state’s witness list to testify against a man they served with on commissioners court. County Attorney Bill Moore, County Clerk Becky Williams and Sheriff Bob Alford were also on the witness list. Beeson and Moore were present in the court Tuesday.
The state had planned to call 48 potential witnesses, including elected officials, precinct officials, at least four members of the sheriff’s office, two bankers and a litany of others residing inside and outside of the county.
“This all started with an excellent job by the county auditor and Texas Ranger Jason Bobo,” Hanna said. “The [plea] recommendations were appropriate for this case.”
Matthews had no prior criminal record. When Neill read Matthews punishment into the record, he wished a man he served with for years “good luck.”
The second count charged Matthews abused his office by purchasing MC-30 offspec products from Gulf Energy Company while receiving cash and check payments from Tom Arthur, an agent of the company, and paid the company more than $100,000 and less than $200,000 in county funds. The charge is a second-degree felony.
Arthur’s and Matthews’ relationship may have begun on the football team at Texas A&M, according to internet records researched by the Burleson Star that place them on Aggie teams in the early 1980s. Arthur was listed as an original 12th Man. They were both defensive backs.
Charges will not be filed against Arthur, Hanna said.
The fourth count was one of six similar charges for filing a false financial statement with County Clerk Becky Williams. The charges stemmed from income earned from Arthur; Mark Shipman and/or Confab Construction; Cody Jones and/or Rig Structures LLC; John Hardee and/or Hardee Landry Inc.; and from Jeff Cannon and/or Waste Facilities Inc.
“He had gotten way outside the boundaries as a commissioner,” Hanna said. “We don’t take an ounce of pleasure doing this. It’s something you have to do.”
Almost 2,300 pages of bank record filings were submitted as evidence in the case by custodians of records at Bank of America and Pinnacle Bank.