State Rep. Reynolds gets 1 year in jail, fine after barratry conviction

State Rep. Ron Reynolds talks with his attorneys Vivian King and Stephen Jackson in 2014. State Rep. Ron Reynolds talks with his attorneys Vivian King and Stephen Jackson in 2014. Photo: Mihir Zaveri Photo: Mihir Zaveri Image 1 of / 21 Caption Close State Rep. Reynolds gets 1 year in jail, fine after barratry conviction 1 / 21 Back to Gallery

State Rep. Ron Reynolds, a Fort Bend County Democrat convicted last week in an "ambulance chasing for profit" scheme, could spend up to a year in jail after being sentenced Monday to the maximum penalty by a Montgomery County jury.

The Fort Bend County Democrat was convicted Friday of five counts of illegally soliciting clients, or misdemeanor barratry. A six-person jury on Monday rejected his plea for probation, and instead sentenced him to 12 months behind bars and a fine of several thousand dollars.

Reynolds was stoic as the sentence was read. He took off his suit jacket and tie and handed them to a friend, and gave his cell phone and watch to his wife. Then he was escorted from the courtroom by deputies and taken to the county jail.

The court scheduled a Tuesday hearing on his request to remain free pending his appeal. His attorneys had said a misdemeanor conviction wouldn't require him to give up his House seat.

Texas law bars lawyers -- as well as licensed chiropractors, physicians and private investigators -- from soliciting clients for accident or disaster claims until at least 30 days after the incident. The law is designed to protect victims from fraud and swarms of attorneys.

Reynolds represented himself in the trial last week, but on Monday he was joined at the defense table by state Rep. Harold V. Dutton, a Houston Democrat.

"Nothing I did was criminal, " Reynolds, a married father of three, insisted in closing arguments. He argued that prosecutors found two disgruntled clients and built their case on their testimony. "I wish I had 100 percent satisfaction with my clients, but I'm not perfect," he said.

Montgomery County prosecutor Lisa Stewart pressed for the maximum allowable sentence.

"This wasn't just money, this was trust that was broken," she said.

She said jail time was the only way to send a message to Reynolds. "You cant rehabilitate a deficiency of character like this one" through probation, she said.

Reynolds was among eight Houston-area lawyers charged in 2013; Reynolds is the only one who did not accept a plea deal. None of the other lawyers received jail.

He was easily re-elected to a third term in November 2014 during his first trial just before a jury found him guilty of six counts of misdemeanor barratry.

But that guilty verdict was overturned by state District Judge Lisa Michalk, who declared a mistrial after one juror reported being influenced by another juror who told her that other attorneys had already admitted involvement in the client referral scheme.

The first jury found insufficient evidence that Reynolds had committed a felony, and prosecutors agreed it would have been "double jeopardy" to charge him again with a felony.

Reynolds did not take the stand in his first trial, but in a surprise move, decided to testify on his own behalf in last week's trial.

In testimony last week, Robert Ramirez Valdez, Sr., a four-time felon, alleged that the lawmaker paid him an average of $1,000 for each client recruited for his law firm.

Valdez said he would glean names of accident victims from police reports and persuade them to sign a contract for Reynolds to represent them. Reynolds contended that he did not know the clients were being illegally solicited; prosecutors said Reynolds was one of eight lawyers paying Valdez thousands of dollars to do just that. Valdez is serving a five-year prison sentence for his role in the scheme.

During the trial, several witnesses who said they had signed contracts for Reynolds to represent them said they never saw him in person until coming to the courtroom for his criminal trial.

Reynolds was also questioned last week about similar allegations of soliciting clients in Harris County in 2012. He called the case "frivolous" and again denied knowing clients were solicited.

That time he was accused of using a chiropractic firm to persuade patients to sign contracts naming him as their attorney before they had ever been examined or met him. However, those charges were dismissed after a Harris County investigator who worked the case was accused of stealing evidence in another case.

At one point, the lawmaker began breaking down as he spoke. "I am a father of three children. This has been very embarrassing," said Reynolds, alleging that prosecutors wanted to put a notch on their belts by convicting a state lawmaker.

Reynolds represents House District 27, which covers parts of Houston, Missouri City, Sugar Land, Pearland, Stafford, Fresno and Arcola.

Staff writer Cindy Horswell contributed to this report.