http://www.chron.com/news/houston-t...-Abercia-two-staffers-indicted-on-2489696.php Constable Abercia, two staffers indicted on bribery charges By Susan Carroll and Mike Morris, HOUSTON CHRONICLE Updated 12:00 p.m., Thursday, January 12, 2012 Longtime Harris County Precinct One Constable Jack Abercia pleaded not guilty in Houston federal court Thursday morning to charges that he allegedly accepted cash in exchange for unlawfully running background checks and for hiring an unqualified deputy. Abercia, 78, and two of his staffers were arrested Thursday morning on suspicion of violating several federal laws, including conspiring to accept bribes and using the county office for private gain. Chief Lieutenant Weldon Kenneth Wiener, 72, and Office Chief Michael Butler, 56, are in federal custody and are not expected to appear in court today. A 13-count federal indictment returned on Tuesday and unsealed after the arrests accuses Abercia and Wiener of soliciting and accepting money from companies interested in running background checks on prospective employees through the National Crime Information Center (NCIC) database, which is restricted to law enforcement use. The indictment charges 11 specific acts of misuse of NCIC in November, accusing Abercia of accepting about $9,000 total for running checks on about a dozen prospective employees of a power washing company with ties to the government's confidential informant in the case. Though the indictment focuses on details of the November incidents, prosecutors say the practice had been going on in the constable's office for a longer period of time. Abercia and Butler are also charged with bribery in connection with the hiring of an otherwise unqualified deputy constable in return for a $5,000 bribe in July 2010. The indictment alleges that Butler took the bribe and kept $2,000, giving the remaining $3,000 to Abercia. The indictment also accuses Abercia of enlisting his employees to run personal errands for him on county time. If convicted of the conspiracy charge, all three face up to five years in prison. Abercia and Wiener potentially face an additional five years in prison for each count of exceeding authorized computer access. Abercia and Butler also could receive an additional 10 years in prison if convicted of the bribery charge. Abercia, who has served as constable since 1991, withdrew his re-election bid in December, saying he had cancer. He announced this month he would resign Jan. 31. He has denied that his decision to withdraw his candidacy had to do with the ongoing FBI probe. Harris County Commissioners Court this week named Ken Berry, a retired major who served 35 years with the Harris County Sheriff's Office, to take Abercia's post at the end of the month. Precinct 1 Assistant Chief J.C. Mosier said he and his colleagues were notified of the indictment by a phone call from the Harris County Attorney's office this morning. "I'm saddened, as I'm sure most of our employees are, by this happening," Mosier said. "It's a shame and we don't want it to reflect on our office. We have great employees here who are honest and hard-working." Berry visited the office Wednesday for the first time, Mosier said, meeting with Abercia and many employees and familiarizing himself with the office's operations. "Regardless of this, (Berry) was coming in to do a complete look at our department to see where things could be improved, changed, so that there would be improvement in the way we run things," Mosier said. "It'll be an ongoing thing for him. He's hit the ground running." The Harris County Attorney's Office is investigating all eight county constable offices in a wide-ranging review focusing on charitable organizations run by constables and a program that allows neighborhood groups to hire constables for local security patrols.
