Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (R) is not going to trial after all.
In 2015, a grand jury indicted Paxton on three felony criminal charges: two counts of securities fraud and one count of failing to register with state securities regulators. Prosecutors claimed that Paxton solicited two acquaintances to buy hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of stock in a technology startup, but failed to disclose that he would be compensated for the deal.
Years of procedural and pretrial maneuvering had delayed the case, but trial was finally scheduled to begin on April 15.
Then the case came to an abrupt end last Tuesday when prosecutors agreed to drop the charges in a deferred prosecution agreement. Whereas Paxton had been facing potentially decades in prison if convicted — 99 years, in fact, according to the Austin American-Statesman — he will now serve 100 hours of community service, pay restitution, and take continuing legal education…
