Seventeen days after the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear a case pertaining to former Indian Lake police chief and Cameron County sheriff’s candidate John Chambers’ conviction on falsifying governmental records, a state district judge handed down his sentence.
Chambers appeared Thursday before 103rd Judge Janet Leal — via zoom — and was sentenced to one year probation, probated for 2 and fined $1,400.
Under his condition of probation, Chambers is ordered to undergo alcohol and drug evaluations, random urinalysis testing and must perform 180 hours of community service.
Chambers sentencing had been on hold since his January 2016 conviction while he appealed his case.
The former police chief had been accused of knowingly making a false entry in a governmental record regarding firearms qualifications for some of his officers. He was convicted in January 2016 of the 14 counts of tampering with governmental records.
The U.S. Supreme Court on June 7 denied to hear Chambers’ case.
Cameron County District Attorney Luis V. Saenz on June 7 stated on his Facebook page that Chambers had sought to overturn his conviction through the Supreme Court. The court’s denial leaves in place Chambers’ conviction of 14 counts of tampering with a government document, Saenz said.
“I am thankful for the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision. It is consistent with those of the Texas 13th Court of Appeals and Texas Court of Criminal Appeals. I look forward to this case being closed and the jury verdict from January 2016 finally being administered,” Saenz said.
Chambers was the Republican nominee in the 2020 Cameron County sheriff’s race. He was defeated by Democratic nominee Eric Garza.
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