Houston Police Officers Union Pillaged by Houston Cops: Matthew Calley Sentenced to 20 Years After Pleading Guilty to $650,000+ Theft, Two Other Cops Charged
Last week, retired Houston police officer Matthew Calley stood in front of a Harris County judge and said he was sorry for what he had done, but no one can know for sure if that apology swayed the judge at Mr. Calley’s sentencing hearing. Maybe it did, because the 25 year veteran could have been sentenced to life imprisonment and this didn’t happen.
What Happened to Houston Police Officer Matthew Calley?
Former cop Matthew Calley pled guilty to theft and misappropriations of funds, two felony counts, back in March 2011. Once caught, Calley didn’t fight much: maybe he figured his time was up, since the record reveals that the Houston police officer had been skimming case from his local police officers’ union for the past 7 years.
He had easy access. Calley served on the board of directors for the Houston Police Officers’ Union, where he had authority to withdraw funds that were being set aside to help his fellow officers and union members.
Over $400,000 was taken from a single HPOU account, established for scholarships and to help out law enforcement officers in financial emergencies. All that money came from donations – from Average Joes, from local businesses. The rest of the theft was from the union’s PAC account (political action committee).
It’s a lot of money: $656,000 was taken by Houston police officer Matthew Calley from the till of the Houston Police Officers’ Union.
At the end of the day, Calley was sentenced to serve 20 years in prison on his two felony counts, to be served concurrently. And the money? It’s gone — no one is expecting Calley to provide restitution, no one is expecting that money to be recovered. Seems he gambled it away.
Calley’s Not the Only Cop Facing Theft Charges In Houston – Two Other Police Officers Charged With Stealing From the Houston Police Officers’ Union
The story’s not over with Calley’s sentencing. Nope. Seems the Harris County District Attorney’s Office only got wind of Calley’s bad acts after TWO of his compadres at the Houston Police Officers Union were arrested — that’s right, arrested for theft from the very same organization.
One of these evildoers, Houston police officer and HPOU official Ronald Martin, has already been sentenced to 10 years probation and he’s ordered to provide restitution to the Union of $40,000.00. Martin pled guilty last February.
The other alleged evildoer is Martin’s daughter’s ex-husband, Jeffrey Larson. Fellow Houston cop and union honcho Larson got busted with his ex-father-in-law back in 2008 for misapplication of fiduciary property, and he’s set for trial.
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