(Texas Scorecard) – After a nine-month search, the Texas Rangers have found a special prosecutor in the Ellis County District Attorney’s Office to help with the public corruption investigation involving McLennan County Sheriff Parnell McNamara.
The allegations state that McNamara had former Deputy Jonathan Crawley work on his Bosqueville farm for three years while on the county clock, costing citizens over $200,000.
Chris Abel, chief felony prosecutor, confirmed to Texas Scorecard that he and Ellis County First Assistant District Attorney Rick Sipes have handled the investigation with the assistance of the Texas Rangers so far.
The investigation began when Bernadette Feazell, a Waco blogger, sent formal complaints to the FBI, Texas Rangers, and McLennan County District Attorney Josh Tetens.
According to Feazell, Tetens sat on her complaint for months, prompting her to send a letter to a grand jury.
When the jury requested that Tetens investigate, he recused himself as he and McNamara endorsed each other and campaigned together in the 2024 Republican Primary Election.
Instead, Tetens handed the request to the Texas Rangers, who announced an investigation.
Tetens declined to comment about Feazell’s claims.
However, he told KWTX that his office had difficulty finding another agency willing to take on the special prosecutor role.
The Rangers reportedly sought guidance from Tetens, as they had no formal case filed outside of the investigation request. Although Tetens declined to get involved, his office agreed to assist the Rangers in finding a special prosecutor.
Sergeant Ryan Howard of the Texas Department of Public Safety confirmed that the Texas Rangers were still investigating the case.
Feazell received a letter in April from the Texas Department of Public Safety stating that the FBI Public Integrity Task Force, rather than the Texas Rangers, was leading the investigation.
When asked if the FBI had any role in the investigation, Howard declined to comment. The FBI did not return a request for comment.
According to the details of the allegation, McNamara directed Crawley to work on his farm while under the guise of cleaning up the gun range. Tasks began with Crawley mowing a gun range used by county officers on McNamara’s property, but soon escalated to clearing land for a new home, mending fences, and preparing McNamara’s former home for demolition.
“You’re putting this on your timesheet, right?” McNamara allegedly told Crawley each time he went to work on the farm.
Crawley told Texas Scorecard that McNamara not only failed to pay him or provide a tip but also required him to use his own work tools for the property work.
“I never questioned it because he’s the boss,” said Crawley. “But I never volunteered for it.”
Then, one day, a county squad car drove over a bridge toward the McNamara property in China Spring, where Crawley was working in front of a “barndominium.”
Parnell’s wife, Charlotte, allegedly yelled at Crawley, “Go, hide in the woods!”
He ran and hid for ten minutes.
At that point, the illegality of the situation dawned on Crawley.
“What the hell am I hiding for?” Crawley reports asking himself.
Three former county sheriff’s office employees also confirmed to Texas Scorecard that they either knew about or witnessed Crawley working on McNamara’s private property.
“Everybody knew,” said Crawley. “The majority of those people [who] are working there know what I did, and even the people [who] already left know what I did.”
Later, on June 15, 2022, a chunk of wood flew under Crawley’s eyelid as he cut trees with a chainsaw. This would set the stage for the investigation.
Crawley told Texas Scorecard that McNamara not only failed to provide protective gear and made him pay his own medical bills after the accident, but also directed him not to file a workers’ compensation claim.
Crawley said that such a claim would have exposed his former boss’ illegal actions.
The weekly call sheet—a log of times when officers report in—shows that Crawley never called in on the day of his injury or the day after. Additionally, the sheet indicates that he worked 30 hours straight over the previous two days, until someone else clocked out for him, lending credence to Crawley’s claim of falsification.
Meanwhile, Crawley’s timesheet indicates that he worked eight hours every day that week, except for a vacation day on Friday.
In response to the allegations, McNamara said they were “totally false” and that the supporters of Crawley’s story were “disgruntled ex-employees” out to make him look bad.
McNamara confirmed that he had Crawley work at the gun range on his ranch to mow the grass and clean up the lead from spent ammunition, but denied the other aspects.
The sheriff’s office claimed McNamara had a memorandum of understanding with the city of Waco. The 1996 document, drafted 16 years before McNamara became sheriff, does not mention McNamara’s properties, nor does it permit the sheriff’s staff to work the firing range for construction or maintenance services.
McNamara also called Crawley a “known liar” to KWTX, stating that he resigned after an officer stopped him for suspicion of driving under the influence and subsequently lied about the situation to his superiors.
Crawley denied being drunk and told Texas Scorecard that the officer who pulled him over never tested him to determine his sobriety.
The former deputy also stated that he provided texts and phone records to the FBI and Texas Rangers that show evidence of the illegal work that McNamara requested.
McNamara declined to comment.