Former Tarrant County Justice of the Peace Jacquelyn Wright was found guilty on three counts of falsifying homestead exemptions and convicted of tampering with a government record, according to a February 2 press release from the Office of Tarrant County Criminal District Attorney Sharen Wilson.
Visiting Judge Daryl Coffey sentenced 74-year-old Wright (who served Precinct 4 in Fort Worth from 1991-2018) to four years probation, ten days in jail, and a $2,500 fine.
Wright is also required to write and publish (within the next ninety days) a fifty-page essay apologizing to the court and the public for her conduct.
The investigation that led to her conviction followed a complaint indicating that Wright did not reside as required within District 4, the district for which she sought re-election as Justice of the Peace between 2012 and 2018.
Testimony further demonstrated that the day after Wright filed for 2018 re-election, utilizing a residential address that she actually leased to a Precinct 4 renter, Wright converted a water bill into her name for the optics of legitimate residence.
She lost in the primary runoff of 2018.
Assistant Criminal District Attorney and Chief of White Collar and Public Integrity Team Lloyd Whelchel reportedly declared of Wright to the Tarrant Country jury: “[She] knows what the law is, she knows what she is doing, she wanted the tax benefits. She is guilty of this crime. It was [Wright’s] job to serve the public, not be a deceiver. That is what she did for a long time. That is what the Public Integrity unit is about, to hold us accountable. We ask you to hold her accountable for what she has done, no matter what the lie was, and hold her and all of us public officials accountable.”
No comment from Wright on the recent conviction has been made available as of yet.
Wright is not estranged from controversy.
Per a September 22, 2015 Public Warning and Order of Additional Education document issued by the State Commission on Judicial Conduct, Wright filed a lawsuit against Former Chairwoman of the Tarrant County GOP Jennifer Hall after the exposure of the following December 13, 2013 email that Wright sent to Hall discussing Vickie Phillips, Wright’s political opponent at that time:
“The nature of my job requires mediation-type solutions. Plus, it is always better when the parties can agee (sic). To that end, there is a win/win solution for the party, Ms. Phillips, and myself. At the end of this term, I will have completed 24 years. I must have 25 in order to get to full retirment (sic). So I will fight like the dickens to get there. I must get sworn in January 2015 in order to qualify for the 25 years and full retirement. That doesn’t mean I must fulfill the next term of office. [If] Ms. Phillips withdraws her complaint: we proceed with the election. She builds her name recognition, I will make sure her brushes with the law are not an issue–ever. She has no legal expenses. The party suffers not. I will endorse her for appointment in the unfullfilled (sic) term. I will support her in any future elections. Jackie Wright.”
Former GOP Chairwoman Hall did not forward that Wright-authored email to Phillips.
Instead, she forwarded it to the Office of the Secretary of State, along with a complaint that explained what preceded the email.
On March 4, 2014, Wright posted the following comment on her Facebook page after preliminary voting results appeared to affirm victory for Phillips: “Thank You, God, for keeping me right where you think I should be. And to my opponent, here’s an Italian wish: bafongoo. And that’s accompanied by a flick of the wrist under the chin. My spelling is phoenic (sic). I’ll let you figure out what that means.”
Wright later claimed to the State Commission on Judicial Conduct that the term was “meaningless,” and that the flick-of-the-wrist-under-the-chin gesture was intended to convey “to go jump back in the mud,” a “tongue-in-cheek reference to the massive amount of mudslinging [Phillips] did during the campaign.”
The gesture is popularly considered crude and offensive.
In that matter, Wright was ordered to complete three hours of judicial conduct training with a mentor judge within sixty days.