HOUSTON – Just over a week after a new Texas law made “jugging” a felony, Harris County prosecutors have charged five people in separate cases under the statute.
Houston undercover stings catch 5 suspects, felony jugging charges filed The suspects
Joseph Washington, Jonathan Williams, Curtis Odigie, Keon Jacobs, and Joshua Thornton all face felony jugging charges. According to documents, the suspects arrested this month never got the chance to make off with anything due to undercover officers who were watching.
Records say Washington and Williams were working together, as were Odigie and Thornton in another case, while Jacobs acted alone. All five were arrested on the same day, September 5.
Court records show Washington and Williams are accused of following Ruben Martinez from a Wells Fargo. Martinez said he noticed a car trailing him, and later found out undercover Houston police officers were also following the suspects.
“They didn’t take anything from me. There was just a car following me and the undercover cops were following them,” said Martinez. His interview was translated to English from Spanish.
Investigators later found a mask and a window-breaking tool inside the suspects’ vehicle, according to documents.
Curtis Odigie and Joshua Thornton face charges in a separate case. Prosecutors say they followed someone from another Wells Fargo location, but that person turned out to be an undercover Harris County sheriff’s deputy.
Documents say investigators found a license plate flipper in their possession.
The new law also allowed charges against Keon Jacobs, though no victims were named in the case. Investigators say in documents that he was spotted hanging out in multiple bank parking lot then tried to follow one person for about eight miles. After the subject didn’t exit the vehicle, he then circled back to another bank, according to documents. Even without a named victim, deputies arrested him under the jugging statute. Documents say they found gloves, multiple license plates and a screwdriver in his possession — which could qualify as “criminal tools”.
What is Jugging?
Jugging is when criminals follow victims from a bank or business to steal newly withdrawn cash or merchandise.
Under the Texas statute that took effect on September 1, the suspect must knowingly travel from a commercial business or financial institution on the same path or route as another person without substantially deviating from that path or route; and be in possession of two or more criminal instruments.
What does the new law change?
Before jugging was its own offense, prosecutors could charge jugging suspects with only burglary or robbery relating to the things they took from a victim.
Now, jugging can be a stand-alone charge, like in Jacobs’ case. Alone, it’s classified as a state jail felony, punishable by 180 days to two years behind bars and a fine of up to $10,000.
It can also be elevated if burglary or robbery charges are filed along with it. If the crime also involves burglary of a vehicle, it becomes a third-degree felony, carrying two to 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $10,000.
If the suspect commits robbery while carrying out a jugging, the charge rises to a first-degree felony. That’s punishable by five to 99 years, or life, in prison and a fine of up to $10,000.
The Source: Harris county court documents, the texas penal code
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