Texas Attorney General’s Weekly Roundup: Six Texans arrested on human trafficking charges

Staff Report

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Paxton’s Human Trafficking Unit Arrests Six in Coryell County

The Human Trafficking Unit of Attorney General Ken Paxton’s Criminal Investigations Division made several noteworthy arrests in Coryell County this week.

Angelena Yvonne Cedillo (Mata), 45, of Gatesville was arrested by investigators with the Coryell County Sheriff’s Office for an outstanding warrant for Continuous Trafficking of Persons during execution of an unrelated search warrant at her residence. Cedillo (Mata) was transported to the Coryell County Jail without incident.

Elijah Jerry Keller, 58, of Gatesville was arrested by investigators with the Coryell County Sheriff’s Office for an outstanding warrant for Continuous Trafficking of Persons after an unrelated search warrant was executed at his residence. Keller was not at home when the search took place but was taken into custody shortly afterward when he was found walking along the roadside. Keller was transported to the Coryell County Jail without incident.

Castlee Noble, 54, of Gatesville was arrested by investigators with the Coryell County Sheriff’s Office for an outstanding warrant for Trafficking of Persons during execution of an unrelated search warrant at his residence. Noble was transported to the Coryell County Jail without incident.

William Henderson, 66, of Troy was arrested pursuant to an outstanding warrant for Continuous Trafficking of Persons and Trafficking of Persons Under 18 years of age and was transported to the Coryell County Jail without incident.

Lorenzo Ford, 58, of Gatesville was arrested by investigators with the Coryell County Sheriff’s Office pursuant to an outstanding warrant for Continuous Trafficking of Persons warrant, while he was attending a District Court hearing in Coryell County on an unrelated criminal charge. Ford was already in the custody of the Coryell County Jail.

Stephen Earl Williams, 65, of Gatesville, was arrested by investigators with the Coryell County Sheriff’s Office pursuant to an outstanding warrant for Continuous Trafficking of Persons during execution of an unrelated search warrant at his residence. Williams was transported to the Coryell County Jail without incident.

These arrest warrants resulted from a request for investigative assistance from the Coryell County Sheriff’s Office, regarding a large-scale narcotics investigation that had a connection with sex trafficking offenses involving minor children.

Paxton Joins Multistate Coalition Demanding Protection of the Right to Bear Arms

AUSTIN – Attorney General Ken Paxton joined a multistate amicus brief demanding that the U.S. Supreme Court uphold Hawaiians’ Second Amendment rights to bear arms outside their homes.

In a 2020 decision, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the State of Hawaii’s refusal to allow its citizens the right to carry firearms outside of their homes. But the Second Amendment protects both the rights to keep and to bear arms, not just the right to keep them.

The amicus brief also asks the Supreme Court to resolve a split among the federal circuit courts of appeals, several of which have resisted the Court’s clear and ringing affirmation of Americans’ Second Amendment rights in its landmark 2008 decision in District of Columbia v. Heller.

“The blatant misinterpretation of the Second Amendment by the Ninth Circuit must be remedied,” Attorney General Paxton said. “We are asking for the Court to simply uphold the Second Amendment as it is written. The lower courts have flagrantly disregarded the Supreme Court’s instructions in Heller, leaving the right to bear arms in jeopardy. We must have a clear and concise ruling that protects the Second Amendment from lower courts’ hostility to gun rights to prevent this type of infringement from happening yet again.”

Read the full amicus brief here.

Paxton’s Election Fraud Unit Makes Arrest

The Election Fraud Unit arrested and booked Monica Mendez into the Victoria County Jail on June 23, 2021, after a Victoria County Grand Jury returned an indictment against her on multiple counts of election fraud.

• 7 counts of Illegal Voting (a 2^nd Degree Felony),
• 8 counts of Unlawfully Assisting Voter Voting Ballot by Mail (a 3^rd Degree Felony),
• 8 counts of Unlawful Possession of Ballot (a State Jail Felony), and
• 8 counts of Election Fraud (a State Jail Felony).

The Texas Secretary of State referred the case to the Office of the Attorney General after allegations of illegal voting and other election code violations arising out of the 2018 Bloomington Water District Election.

Paxton Joins Multistate Coalition in Demanding Protection of Seminary’s Religious Liberties

AUSTIN – Attorney General Paxton joined an Amicus Brief along with 15 other states to fight for the rights of Fuller Theological Seminary, which expelled two students who entered same-sex marriages after their admission.

The Seminary’s religious liberty, which serves as the basis for its removal of these students, is protected not only under the First Amendment, but also under the Department of Education’s 2020 religious freedom regulation.

But the former students urge a much narrower interpretation—and ultimately incorrect and unconstitutional interpretation—of the First Amendment and federal regulations.

“Fuller Theological Seminary is clearly a religious organization, and it should come as no surprise that same-sex marriages conflict with its biblical views on sex and marriage—which are expressly set forth in its ethical and moral community standards that all students, including those dismissed, agree to,” Attorney General Paxton said. “The Constitution requires the government to protect the religious beliefs of its citizens and organizations like Fuller, and it’s as simple as that. This attack against Fuller is just the latest volley in the war against religious liberty in America, and I won’t stand for it.”

Read the Amicus Brief here.