William Paul Thomas, pictured at an event downtown in 2013. He resigned his position as City Council liaison to Mayor Sylvester Turner in July 2022, one day after pleading guilty to a federal bribery charge.
Jamaal Ellis / For the Chronicle
Houston Chronicle
Dylan McGuinness, staff writer
The federal court in Houston ruled Williams Paul Thomas, the former City Hall aide who admitted last year to conspiring to accept bribes, will not have to cover his
attorney fees moving forward.
Thomas had a hearing Friday morning at the federal courthouse downtown, where he filled out a financial affidavit. U.S. Magistrate Judge Sam Sheldon said he qualified for a court-appointed attorney and named Monique Sparks, who has been representing Thomas in the case, as his lawyer, at no further cost to Thomas.
Thomas, who was the City Council liaison for Mayor Sylvester Turner, had been exploring a change in his legal team as he awaits sentencing. Sparks had asked the court to withdraw as his attorney because he "has failed to comply with terms of the employment agreement with Counsel due to a conflict of interest," she wrote in a filing late last month.
"We had a really, really good conversation," Thomas told the judge about Sparks, who did not respond to multiple requests for comment.
Thomas' sentencing hearing, which has been delayed five times over the last year, currently is scheduled for Dec. 18. He has pleaded guilty to one federal count of conspiracy to accept a bribe, and his plea agreement with federal prosecutors remains sealed.
Legal experts have speculated that he is cooperating with federal investigators in a wider inquiry, given how quickly he pleaded guilty, his willingness to forgo a probable cause hearing and the fact that the case involves prosecutors from the public corruption unit.
He resigned his position as Turner's liaison to City Council in July 2022, one day after pleading guilty to the federal charges. Prosecutors say he was offered more than $13,000 by a local bar owner to help pass a building inspection in 2020, and later to fast-track a new permit to reopen a bar as a restaurant during COVID-19 restrictions.
Thomas contacted the "relevant" fire official to ensure the business owner, who still has not been identified, passed the inspection in May 2020. Later that summer he used his position in the mayor's office to "pressure other city officials" to approve the needed permit as well. He was paid an undisclosed amount of money for his efforts.
After the hearing Friday, Thomas said he looks forward to when he is able to discuss the details of the case. He said he has been disturbed by the media narrative surrounding the proceedings, but his attorneys recently asked him, "Do you want to win the battle, or do you want to win the war?"
"I'm not supposed to talk," he told the Chronicle. "But I look forward to when I can talk."
After Thomas' conviction became public in a Chronicle report last year, the city launched an inspector general's inquiry into whether other city workers helped Thomas with his plots to fast-track permits and inspections. The findings of that probe have not been released yet. Mary Benton, Turner's director of communications, and City Attorney Arturo Michel did not respond to a request for an update on the investigation.
Thomas is not the only city worker to invite scrutiny of City Hall recently. A former Health Department worker, Barry Barnes, also pleaded guilty in 2022 to bribery charges in an unrelated case, involving a scheme where he routed COVID-19 marketing contracts to business owners in exchange for kick-backs.
One of the business owners, Juquita "Jackie" Adams, also pleaded guilty to bribery charges stemming from that scheme. Two others identified by the Chronicle as being involved have not faced charges. Those contracts involved federal COVID-19 pandemic relief funds.