Fulshear mayor indicted on charges of carport theft

Houstonist has often seen the signs pointing the way to Fulshear and wondered what was going on out there — and now we know: Alleged carport theft! Seems Fulshear Mayor James W. Roberts has been indicted on charges of theft, official oppression and attempted official oppression related to a pair of carports that were removed from a resident's property. According to reports, the city was trying to get rid of the carports as part of a civic beautification plan, so Roberts told someone who wanted to buy the structures that he could have one of them if he would agree to put the other one on Roberts' property. "The mayor was charged with unlawfully removing the property, whether it was on city property or not, and misappropriating the property by making personal use of it," Fort Bend County Sheriff's Office Chief Craig Brady told KTRK.

The theft charge stems from Roberts allegedly removing the carports without the owner's permission, and the charges of oppression and attempted oppression are related to allegations that the mayor threatened the owner of the carports in order to obtain them. The whole thing happened back in September, but Roberts didn't turn himself in to police until yesterday, after he was indicted by a grand jury. The mayor's attorney, Dennis Morgan, said Roberts didn't do anything wrong and that the charges are politically motivated: "I believe that it is a waste of the taxpayers' money. I believe on final review my client will be vindicated and people will be very upset at the waste of time," he said. In a written statement, Roberts urged Fulshearians Fulshearers Fulshearonians the people of Fulshear to withhold judgment: "Please wait to hear my side of the story in the light of a courtroom," he wrote.

If he's convicted, Roberts could be sentenced to two years in state prison. The pending case and trial won't affect his standing as mayor, the city attorney told KTRK.