https://www.houstonpublicmedia.org/articles/news/fort-bend/2026/03/12/545948/fort-bend-county-kp-george-money-laundering-trial/

Attorneys for Fort Bend County Judge KP George argued during opening statements on Thursday that the criminal case against him is politically motivated. Prosecutors, meanwhile, argued why the embattled public official should be convicted on felony charges of money laundering.

"Why are you going through all of his campaign records looking for a crime?" George's attorney, Jared Woodfill, told the jury seated in the 458th District Court in Richmond.

The Fort Bend County judge was arrested on two counts of money laundering last year. Prosecutors allege he used more than $46,000 in campaign funds to make a down payment on a house and to pay his property taxes.

If convicted of the third-degree felony, George would be removed from office and could face up to 10 years in prison, with fines up to $10,000.

George is already on his way out as the top elected official for a diverse, fast-growing county southwest of Houston. The county judge was first elected as a Democrat in 2018 and reelected in 2022. Following his indictment, George switched parties and joined the GOP this summer, but failed to secure the Republican nomination for his seat in last week’s primary election. George received 8.4% of the vote to place last in a five-candidate race.

George's attorneys characterized their client as a "gentleman" from "a small, little village" in southeast India who eventually sought the American dream and went on to serve as a public official in his community.

The defense argued the transferred funds were lawful repayments of personal loans George repeatedly made to his own campaign, and that every donation was legal. Woodfill said campaign finance reporting is complex and administrative mistakes should be handled by the governing state board at the Texas Ethics Commissions, not criminal prosecution.

"The evidence of this case is going to be that you're entitled legally to reimburse yourself or pay yourself back for that money that you invested in yourself," Woodfill said. “You can't steal money from yourself, which is effectively what the [Fort Bend County District Attorney's] office is trying to say."

The prosecution brought its first witness to the stand on Thursday, John Bohannon, a veteran investigator and certified fraud examiner with the Fort Bend County District Attorney's Office.

Bohannon testified about George's use of cashier checks from 2019 as a down payment for a house located in Richmond. The investigator said he found suspicious financial transactions involving George, including large transfers from a campaign account to a personal savings account, which were used for home purchases and tax payments.

"I concluded that the criminal activity on this case was wire fraud and tampering with the government record," Bohannon told the court.

George is also facing a misdemeanor charge of misrepresentation of identity. Prosecutors have accused him of working with a staffer to fake racist attacks against his reelection campaign. That case is scheduled to go to trial in May.