{"id":440352,"date":"2026-09-18T20:56:10","date_gmt":"2026-09-18T20:56:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/440352\/"},"modified":"2026-09-18T20:56:10","modified_gmt":"2026-09-18T20:56:10","slug":"former-top-lawyer-for-rodeohouston-avoids-trial-with-guilty-plea","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/440352\/","title":{"rendered":"Former top lawyer for RODEOHOUSTON avoids trial with guilty plea"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"sc-dLMFU sc-fHjqPf jbiTJv kYFPaL article-text\">HOUSTON \u2013 The former general counsel for the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo has finally reached a resolution in his online solicitation of a minor case more than two years after being arrested by the Harris County Precinct 1 Constable\u2019s Office.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-dLMFU sc-fHjqPf jbiTJv kYFPaL article-text\">Jeffrey Downing, 48, pled guilty Thursday during an off-docket hearing and before a trial date scheduled for next month. <\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-dLMFU sc-fHjqPf jbiTJv kYFPaL article-text\">Charged with online solicitation of a minor, Downing received five years of deferred adjudication and will have to register as a sex offender for 10 years, according to records.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-dLMFU sc-fHjqPf jbiTJv kYFPaL article-text\">RELATED: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.click2houston.com\/news\/local\/2025\/09\/04\/former-general-counsel-for-houston-livestock-show-and-rodeo-appears-in-court-for-charge-of-online-solicitation-of-minor\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" title=\"https:\/\/www.click2houston.com\/news\/local\/2025\/09\/04\/former-general-counsel-for-houston-livestock-show-and-rodeo-appears-in-court-for-charge-of-online-solicitation-of-minor\/\">Former general counsel for Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo declines plea deal in case for online solicitation of minor<\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-dLMFU sc-fHjqPf jbiTJv kYFPaL article-text\">The third-degree felony charge carries a sentence of two to 10 years in Texas, but records show the state, in exchange for Downing\u2019s guilty plea, waived the right to a jury trial and instead let Judge Colleen Gaido determine Downing\u2019s sentence.<\/p>\n<p>What happened<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-dLMFU sc-fHjqPf jbiTJv kYFPaL article-text\">Precinct 1 deputies <a href=\"https:\/\/www.click2houston.com\/news\/local\/2024\/05\/14\/general-counsel-for-houston-livestock-show-and-rodeo-accused-of-online-solicitation-of-minor\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" title=\"https:\/\/www.click2houston.com\/news\/local\/2024\/05\/14\/general-counsel-for-houston-livestock-show-and-rodeo-accused-of-online-solicitation-of-minor\/\">arrested Downing in May 2024<\/a>. <\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-dLMFU sc-fHjqPf jbiTJv kYFPaL article-text\">According to a search warrant affidavit, Downing used Kik to communicate with an undercover investigator, calling himself \u201ca cowboy lawyer\u201d and later exchanging sexually explicit messages and photos.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-dLMFU sc-fHjqPf jbiTJv kYFPaL article-text\">He allegedly offered to buy the undercover investigator, who posed as a 15-year-old girl, nice things and exchanged messages while claiming to be at work. <\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-dLMFU sc-fHjqPf jbiTJv kYFPaL article-text\">Downing had been free from jail on bond while his case was pending.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-dLMFU sc-fHjqPf jbiTJv kYFPaL article-text\">Last May, court records show prosecutors made an offer involving prison time and weren\u2019t willing to do deferred adjudication. It\u2019s unclear what changed but in August 2025, records show a new prosecutor was put on the case.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-dLMFU sc-fHjqPf jbiTJv kYFPaL article-text\">He does not have any criminal history. <\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-dLMFU sc-fHjqPf jbiTJv kYFPaL article-text\">Downing joined HLSR in Oct. 2022, according to an interview with Texas Law Book, in which he discussed previously working as a prosecutor.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-dLMFU sc-fHjqPf jbiTJv kYFPaL article-text\">State records show his bar license is still active. KPRC 2 News has reached out to the State Bar of Texas for additional information.<\/p>\n<p>Copyright 2026 by KPRC Click2Houston &#8211; All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"HOUSTON \u2013 The former general counsel for the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo has finally reached a resolution&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":440353,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[294,405,56,58,57,146817,19168],"class_list":["post-440352","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-houston","tag-crime","tag-harris-county","tag-houston","tag-houston-headlines","tag-houston-news","tag-online-solicitation-of-a-minor","tag-rodeohouston"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/440352","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=440352"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/440352\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/440353"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=440352"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=440352"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=440352"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}