Most charges dropped against GOP donor, former Houston PD captain in bogus election fraud scheme

The Harris County District Attorney's Office has dismissed several charges in connection with a former Houston police captain who ran an HVAC repairman off the road in an attempt to prove a bogus voter fraud conspiracy.

Charges dropped against former HPD captain, conservative donor

Mark Aguirre (left) and Steven Hotze (right)

What's New:

The Harris County District Attorney's Office announced it had filed motions to dismiss four felony indictments against conservative megadonor Steven Hotze and three of the five felony charges against former police captain Mark Aguirre.

Harris County DA Sean Teare says there was insufficient evidence for the charges.

A notice of intent to seek hate crime enhancements in all cases, filed by contract prosecutor Warren Diepraam, were found to be meritless and will be withdrawn.

Innocent HVAC repairman held at gunpoint

The backstory:

Mark Anthony Aguirre was arrested by Houston Police in 2020 after allegedly running an innocent HVAC repairman off the road and holding him at gunpoint.

According to a court document, the former captain told police that he was part of a group of private citizens called, "Liberty Center," who were conducting a civilian investigation into an alleged ballot scheme.

Aguirre admitted he had been conducting surveillance on the victim for four days, believing the victim was the mastermind of a giant fraud, and there were 750,000 fraudulent ballots in a truck he was driving.

According to court documents, Aguirre ran his SUV into the back of the victim's truck to get, forcing him to stop and get out. When he got out of the truck, Aguirre, pointed a handgun at him, forced him to the ground, and put his knee on the man’s back – an image captured on the body-worn camera of a police officer.

There were no ballots in the truck and election fraud claims were found to be baseless.

Prosecutors previously said it was Hotze's money and directives that set Aguirre's actions into motion. 

Hotze hired Aguirre and more than a dozen other private investigators to look for voter fraud in Harris County ahead of the 2020 election.

Dropped Charges

Dig deeper:

Hotze was charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and unlawful restraint in 2022. Two years later, he was charged with aggravated robbery and engaging in organized crime. All four of the charges have been dropped.

Aguirre was charged with two counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, one for the vehicle and one for the gun, unlawful restraint causing serious bodily injury, aggravated robbery and engaging in organized crime.

Aguirre will still be prosecuted for aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and unlawful restraint. The other charges were dropped.

What they're saying:

In a news release announcing the dropped charges, Teare criticized former Harris County DA Kim Ogg for overcharging suspects.

"This deeply troubling case shows how toxic conspiracy theories can fuel real-world violence that endangers people in our community," said Harris County District Attorney Sean Teare. "We look forward to vigorously prosecuting the remaining charges in this case that stand up to legal scrutiny. However, unlike the previous administration, we believe ethical prosecutors have a responsibility to do so based on facts — not political theater, media spectacle, or the reckless pursuit of headlines."

"The former district attorney abused the authority of this office to overcharge and investigate those she disagreed with and outsourced high-profile criminal investigations to friends who shared her political views," said Teare. "That’s not justice and so long as I’m DA, that’s not how we will do business in Harris County."

The Source: Information in this article comes from a news release from Harris District Attorney DA Sean Teare. More information on the charges against Hotze and Aguirre come from Harris County court documents and past FOX 26 coverage.

HoustonCrime and Public Safety