Jack Abercia
Former Harris County Precinct 1 Constable Jack Abercia was sentenced Wednesday to three years probation for conducting illegal criminal background checks to raise money, in part, for an elevator in his home.
Abercia pleaded guilty in August to 11 counts of misusing his authorized computer access.
Federal prosecutors said Abercia and a top staffer performed illegal background checks for private companies for a fee, using a national criminal information database that is restricted to law enforcement purposes.
Abercia, 80, who took office in 1991, was facing up to five years in prison on each count, but pleaded guilty in U.S. District Judge Keith Ellison’s court in exchange for three years probation.
Abercia resigned from the $120,000-a-year job after being arrested in January 2012.
He took the plea in August, and was supposed to have been sentenced on November 26. Not sure why it took almost two more months to happen. Two of his aides were also arrested and pleaded guilty; one got two years’ probation, the other is still pending. Like I said, good riddance.