EDINBURG — A judge Monday reset an arraignment for alleged Hidalgo County cattle thief and 2024 presidential candidate Phillip Drake because he appeared without his attorney, who quit last week after receiving no payment.
Drake was scheduled to be arraigned on two counts of theft of cattle and two counts of theft of property between $30,000 and $150,000, charges related to what authorities describe as a monetarily significant scheme to scam business partners.
Those allegations landed Drake, 39, in jail on three separate occasions in 2021 and 2022, though he has previously described them as baseless to media outlets and on social media.
Shannon T. Nash, with law firm Tolleson & Nash in Spring, submitted a motion to withdraw as Drake’s attorney last week.
Drake, the motion said, had missed every meeting with his attorneys and had failed to make required payments.
On Monday, Drake — cowboy hat in hand — told state District Judge Jose Longoria that he’d spoken with the firm that morning and that he would be rehiring Nash as legal counsel.
“This same attorney that withdrawed, I’ve worked out a deal with him to hire him,” he said. “I got a loan on some property, and it just took a little time — it took longer than what we expected.”
Longoria originally wanted Drake to return that day, which Drake said would be impossible.
“I can’t get it done today, sir,” he said. “It’s a lot of money. And he’s in Houston.”
Drake is now set to be arraigned on October 17.
A Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association Special Ranger first arrested Drake a little under a year ago after one of his business partners became suspicious about not being able to take possession of a herd of cows Drake was supposed to be caring for.
About the same time, Drake reported to police that he had been assaulted and tied to a chair at his ranch last summer. Police say those claims are groundless.
The TSCRA would arrest Drake again in November and again in May, with Special Ranger Joe Aguilar describing him as a “con artist” who would use the prospect of lucrative cattle ventures to cheat business partners out of their investments.
Despite the charges, Drake has simultaneously launched a foray into politics.
In December he launched a brief-lived bid to run for Texas State Senate District 27, which ended when his application was rejected.
Drake has since announced that he plans to run for president of the United States in 2024 as an independent, launching fundraising efforts and social media pages for that purpose.
