Tuesday at noon, Ray Sumrow was removed as Rockwall County Criminal District Attorney, sent to four years in prison, as well as ordered to pay restitution and court costs, under sentencing by a Dallas judge after a jury’s conviction Monday on theft.
By Tuesday afternoon, he was out on $10,000 bond until the appeal is settled, that appeal having been filed immediately upon completion of the sentencing hearing.
Sumrow was found guilty of third degree felony theft. Restitution for the computer components, travel advances, and airline tickets of which he was found guilty of taking from the county, amounts to $9,652.76.
On three other charges, two of which were forgery, and one was tampering with a government document, the jury was hung; mistrials were declared.
Sumrow’s compensation from the state and county for his district attorney position are being discontinued, said Rockwall County Judge Chris Florance.
Another trial is slated for April 21, on a Rockwall County grand jury indictment of abuse of official capacity and theft, relating to $68,000 in state funds intended for Sumrow in his capacity as district attorney, being placed into his personal account. A Travis County grand jury also has indicted him for abuse of official capacity for the same event; a trial on that is up to that county’s district attorney.
Of those indictments, Wheeler said, “We may reach some agreement that’s acceptable to all parties.”
The state’s special prosecution team of Jim Skinner and John Schomburger, assistant district attorneys from Collin County, would not comment, since the other cases are pending, but Schomburger did say of the conviction, “Obviously the jury did the right thing.”
The state had asked for prison time during the sentencing hearing, and the defense for probation.
Wheeler spoke in the hall of the George Allen Court Building shortly after his client had been escorted out of the sixth floor courtroom by about seven members of law enforcement. The group included main investigators who brought the case to the grand jury, Rockwall sheriff’s office chief David Goelden, and FBI public corruption investigator Brent Chambers, both of whom had testified in the two and a half weeks of trial.
Sumrow had been under investigation since 2006. As Goelden’s several days of testimony neared an end, he had calmly replied “No” to Wheeler’s question, “You were on a witchhunt weren’t you.”
“You knew there were tensions between the sheriff’s office and the DA’s office,” Wheeler asked.
“I didn’t really have any problems,” Goelden said.
Goelden explained that information about the $68,000 being put into Sumrow’s personal account, rather than the district attorney’s account was provided by Rockwall County Treasurer Sheree Jones, when she made statements about her own theft, prior to both investigations. She repaid money to the county, and it is reported that Sumrow has paid the $68,000 back. Goelden said the sheriff’s office did not investigate Sumrow until after the Jones trial, therefore, her information could not be considered a “vendetta.”
Senior Judge John Nelms, retired from the bench, but called in for the trial, referred to the cross-examination in his comments during the sentencing hearing.
“You slandered the sheriff and some of his employees; they are in no way responsible for your acts; and being a whistle blower and raising the hue and cry so investigation will be done correctly is one of the duties of the sheriff’s office.”
Sue White, an 11-year employee of the district attorney’s office, had testified against Sumrow, saying she was “uneasy” about his purchase of computer equipment which she never saw in the office.
The two forgery charges on which the jury could not reach a unanimous verdict, stemmed from the fact that Sumrow signed the name of his first assistant district attorney, Craig Stoddart, a 16-year employee of his, to two separate checks to Fry’s Electronics. Stoddart said he did not give permission; Sumrow said he had permission. The checks were for $543.95 on Feb. 20, 2006, and for $1,375.89 on Nov. 11, 2006, according to the indictment.
The tampering charge also was declared a mistrial. Sumrow said his scratching out of the words “In Home” from a Fry’s Electronics invoice for computer components paid for with fee fund money, was in compliance with law, since the wireless system was for business use. The prosecution said the system was for personal use.
Sumrow, age 58, who graduated from Bland High School, and early in his career worked for the Greenville Police Department, before joining the Rockwall Police Department. He has been Rockwall County’s district attorney for 20 years. He had referred to a medical emergency with his mother, of Greenville, as what prevented him from taking one of the county business trips. He has stated he used that trip allocation on a subsequent business trip, for which he asked for no county funds.
Testimony included a county commissioner who described Sumrow as a friend and the office’s part-time investigators vouching for Sumrow’s integrity. Former district attorney investigator Teresa Chamberlain testified she made personal travel arrangements and bid on E-Bay items for Sumrow during her tenure.
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