HEMPSTEAD, Texas -- A lawman who was removed from his elected office amid stalking indictments has pleaded guilty some six years after Local 2 Investigates first reported on his case.
Raymond Cooke, 68, was constable in Waller County, about 50 miles northwest of Houston, when Local 2 Investigates first reported in 2002 that two women claimed he was using his badge to intimidate them after they turned away his advances.
A local professional rodeo racer produced dozens of e-mails that were traced back to Cooke, in which he threatened to have her arrested. She said the e-mails followed her refusal to become romantically involved with the lawman.
The woman was arrested and jailed for nearly one month on charges that she said were fabricated by the constable. The charge was later dismissed after Local 2 Investigates exposed the case.
A second woman, a local waitress, raised similar accusations and said she was ordered into his police car. She told investigators Cooke threatened her if she spoke to authorities about the case.
Cooke had been indicted on felony counts of retaliation, bribery and tampering with a witness, as well as a misdemeanor count of official oppression. Some of the charges centered around claims by a Waller County sheriff's deputy that the constable threatened him or tried to interfere with his testimony in the case.
The Waller County District Attorney at the time filed a lawsuit to remove Cooke from office. Cooke then resigned from office, handing over his badge.
As part of a plea bargain with the current district attorney of Waller County, all felony charges were dropped and Cooke pleaded guilty Monday to one misdemeanor count of harassment.
Cooke will serve 12 months of probation and pay a $1,200 fine. He was granted deferred adjudication, which means his record will be free of any final conviction if he completes his probation. The terms of his probation include attending anger management class, submitting to drug and alcohol testing and paying all court costs. He was also ordered to stay away from the waitress who came forward and caused the indictments after Local 2 Investigates first reported on the case.
The waitress gave an emotional victim impact statement in court as Cooke was being sentenced.
The professional rodeo racer was not in court, but she expressed anger at the plea bargain. She told Local 2 Investigates that her life was forever changed when she was locked up on bogus charges created by her stalker, so she remains bothered that he will serve probation and remain free with no final conviction on his record.
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