Tarrant County Assistant Criminal District Attorney Urges Jury To Hold Her And All Public Officials Accountable
(Fort Worth, TX) – Former Tarrant County Justice of the Peace Jacquelyn Wright on
Wednesday was convicted of tampering with a government record.
A Tarrant County jury found Wright, who was justice of the peace for Precinct 4 from
1991-2018, guilty on three counts of falsifying homestead exemptions. Visiting Judge Daryl
Coffey sentenced her to four years probation, 10 days in jail and a $2,500 fine. The judge also required her to write a 50-page essay apologizing to the court and public for her behavior. The essay must be written and published in the next 90 days.
Wright, 74, committed the felony crimes by falsely applying for and receiving a homestead
exemption for a home where she did not live between 2015 and 2018.
Assistant Criminal District Attorneys Lloyd Whelchel and Tommy Brown prosecuted this case.
Investigators Marcus Rink and Kyle Pisula worked on the case as well.
During the trial, testimony revealed Wright was not living in Precinct 4, as required, when she ran for re-election as Justice of the Peace between 2012 and 2018.
Testimony also showed the day after Wright filed for re-election in 2018, using the address of a home she leased to a renter in Precinct 4, she changed a water bill into her name to make it appear she lived in that home.
This office began investigating the case after receiving a complaint that Wright didn’t live in
the district in which she sought re-election. During the investigation, they discovered
fraudulent homestead exemptions.
Jacquelyn Wright “knows what the law is, she knows what she is doing, she wanted the tax
benefits,” Whelchel, chief of the White Collar and Public Integrity team, told the jury. “She is guilty of this crime.
“It was (Wright’s) job to serve the public, not be a deceiver. That is what she did for a long
time. That is what the public integrity unit is about, to hold us accountable,” Whelchel also
told the jury. “We ask you to hold her accountable for what she has done, no matter what the lie was, and hold her and all of us public officials accountable.”
