BEAUMONT, Texas — A former Beaumont ISD electrical contractor was sentenced to 10 years probation and a $10,000 fine.
Calvin Walker was found guilty on a felony fraud charge on Thursday, September 26, 2019, after prosecutors said he used fraudulent billing practices to profit more than $1 million.
He was found guilty after five days of testimony by a jury of ten women and two men who were selected from a pool of 200 Jefferson County residents.
After years of appeals, Calvin Walker was found guilty in Judge Stevens' courtroom on a charge of securing execution of a document by deception.
Walker’s 2014 indictment stated that he had "intent to harm or defraud Beaumont Independent School District."
Walker was accused of overcharging the Beaumont Independent School District while he worked as an electrical contractor for the district. Walker's Electric Company was contracted for electrician services for BISD.
“When I was DA, I was presented with evidence that Calvin Walker had been defrauding people for years and getting away with it," former Jefferson County district attorney Cory Crenshaw told 12News after Walker was found guilty. "Insurance fraud got him deferred probation, the Feds prosecuted him for BISD related crimes and he got misdemeanor probation. I knew that he had to be stopped or the fraud would continue."
Walker has consistently denied all of the charges against him. His case is one of several uncovered in investigations into BISD fraud.
His trial began on September 17, 2019, but was interrupted by flooding from Tropical Storm Imelda.