Tarrant County Deputy Constable Details Depth Of Double-Dipping Scheme: 'This Was Organized Crime Right In Front Of Our Eyes'
FORT WORTH (CBSDFW.COM) - Nearly two years after a CBS 11 investigation revealed Tarrant County deputy constables engaged in a double-dipping scheme, a deputy working inside Precinct 8 at the time is sharing how he realized what was happening.
"This was organized crime going on right in front of our eyes," said Deputy Constable John Wright.
A deputy constable for 19 years, Wright says at times he was one of only a few at the precinct actually working.
"It was so much like a ghost town," he said. "It was a joke."
In November 2017, CBS 11 revealed deputies were working private jobs while on the clock for the county.
Weeks of undercover surveillance showed deputies providing security to Walmart and Fiesta stores when pay records show they were on duty for the county.
All four deputies named in the report were later charged, and criminal cases against those involved have finally reached a resolution.
Chief Deputy Arnold Holmes and Deputy Hayward Charles pleaded guilty.
Former deputy, Keith Johnson was convicted earlier this year.
Last week, Deputy Jason Lockett reached a deal with prosecutors, agreeing to surrender his law enforcement license in exchange for having the charges dropped.
"I don't think this would have ever stopped if you guys hadn't conducted your investigation," said Wright.
While working for the precinct, Wright says he was once asked to take over another deputy's shift at Fiesta. He said, he clocked out and spent an hour and a half working security at the grocery store.
Later, when he collected his paycheck, he noticed something wasn't right.
"It didn't reflect any deduction for the time I was over there," he said. "I realized I was being paid twice for that hour and a half."
Wright says other deputies were taking so many private jobs they were hardly ever at work.
"Just being in the office you could see that something was wrong. The numbers weren't adding up."
As a result, Wright says, civil papers in divorce, child support and even child custody cases weren't being served.
Wright says he brought the problem to Constable Michael Campbell's attention, but saw no efforts to address it.
The constable himself was working plenty of private jobs, too.
"He would show up occasionally, but he spent the majority of his time working off duty," said Wright.
Unlike his deputies, Constable Campbell, as an elected official, is not required to work any minimum hours to earn a $112,000 salary from the county.
When CBS 11 approached him in 2017, he denied anyone in his department was double-dipping.
Wright says, back at the precinct, Campbell became focused not on fixing the problem but on rooting out who was speaking to CBS 11. He says after months of rumors that he was the leak, he was eventually terminated.
At an appeal hearing, the constable defended his decision to fire Wright, accusing him of insubordination and failing to keep up with work.
Wright suspected another motive.
"Definitely retaliation, definitely," he said.
Wright won his appeal and returned to work last week.
With Constable Campbell still in charge, he says the problems remain.
"I'm not trying to make the county look bad in any way, but we do need to know what's going on at precinct eight," he said.
The Tarrant County District Attorney's office would not comment when asked if prosecutors are looking into the constable.
Constable Campbell told CBS 11 last week he wished to make a statement on the allegations, but has not yet provided one.