| UNFAIR PARK | Plowed Under Ag Commissioner Sid Miller ditches consultant indicted over alleged bribes for hemp licenses. BY JACOB VAUGHN the consultant, was allegedly taking money in exchange for Texas hemp licenses. Smith and others are accused of running a A scheme in which they convinced farmers they needed to pay tens of thousands of dollars to obtain a license to grow hemp in the state. Hemp was legalized federally in 2018. Texas followed suit the next year and the De- partment of Agriculture helped develop reg- ulations for the hemp market. In reality, though, Texas hemp licenses only cost $100. Smith would allegedly tell the farmers they needed to pay $25,000 for a hemp survey, and spend $150,000 in payments to consultants and elected officials to get their licenses. After handing down the indictment, Tra- vis County District Attorney José Garza told The Texas Tribune: “We are holding ac- countable powerful actors who abuse the system and break the law. Our community needs to know that no one is above the law and will face justice.” Sam Bassett, one of Smith’s attorneys, told the Observer in an emailed statement that his client is innocent. “We are disappointed that the Travis County District Attorney has obtained an in- dictment against Todd Smith,” Bassett said. “He was not invited to address the grand jury. He is not guilty of these charges and in- tends to vigorously defend himself against the allegations made by the Travis County District Attorney’s Office.” Smith’s employer, Agriculture Commis- sioner Sid Miller, had been reluctant to leave his side since he was arrested for the charges in May. Earlier this month, Miller told the Houston Chronicle he thought Smith’s arrest was political. “It happens every election. They know 44 they’re not going to get you on anything, but the process is the penalty,” Miller said. “All they need is a headline: Sid Miller’s political consultant under investigation for selling hemp licenses. Well, they brought him in for questioning. They said OK, this was eight months ago, they said we’re not filing charges and we’re not in- dicting you, so end of the story, folks, move on. But they got the headlines, so they top political consultant for the state’s agriculture com- missioner was indicted last week on felony theft and bribery charges. Todd Smith, Sid Miller via Facebook bring up that old crap.” Even after the latest headlines this week about the indictment, Miller appeared hesi- tant to ditch his longtime consultant. Miller didn’t respond to the Observer’s request for comment. In a radio interview, he said he was reviewing the indictment, but suggested it was politically motivated and that he wasn’t ready to “throw [Smith] under the bus.” His opponents moved quickly to hammer the agriculture commissioner for his ties to Smith, and Miller fired him. In the primary race, Miller is up against two fellow Republicans, Carey Counsil and state Rep. James White. If he wins the pri- mary, he’ll face either Susan Hays and Ed Ireson, both Democrats, in the general elec- tion in November. “Yesterday, Sid Miller denied his cam- paign consultant had anything to do with a scheme to shake down Texas farmers seek- ing licenses at the Texas Department of Ag- riculture,” White said on Twitter. “Just hours later, it was revealed he had been in- dicted. Join me — let’s restore integrity to this agency!” Hays, an attorney wrote on Twitter that she wasn’t surprised by the indictment. Hays said, “Corruption is bad for business. Vote.” Miller cut ties with Smith last Wednesday. Miller told The Texas Tribune: “Todd Smith and I have mutually agreed to termi- nate his association with my campaign ef- fective immediately. My campaign and the [Texas Department of Agriculture] will co- operate fully with any agency involved in this matter so it can be resolved openly, fairly and judiciously.” ▼ LAWSUITS I CHEER ATHLETICS COACH CONNECTED TO NETFLIX HIT CHEER IS FACING SEXUAL ABUSE ACCUSATIONS. BY MICHAEL MURNEY COACH SUED t’s barely been a week since Netflix re- leased the second season of the popular docuseries Cheer, and already another Agricultural Commissioner Sid Miller’s consultant is accused of taking bribes. cheerleading coach connected to the show is facing new sexual abuse allegations. In a lawsuit filed in Travis County last week, Carrie Methvin, a former family friend of cheerleading coach Jason McCart- ney, accused McCartney of sexually abusing her when she was a minor. McCartney is a coach at Cheer Athletics, one of the U.S.’s premier competitive cheer- leading clubs. Cheer Athletics operates training facilities across the country, from Rochester, New York, to Denver, Colorado. The club was founded in Plano in 1994 and maintains facilities in Dallas, Frisco and Austin. Cheer Athletics’ Plano franchise is de- picted in Netflix’s Cheer, which focuses on the Navarro College cheer team’s path to the national cheerleading championships. The Plano facility was in Cheer’s first season and was where McCartney worked until 2015, according to Cheer Athletics’ media team. In his role as a cheer coach, McCartney has had “unfettered access to young chil- dren over the course of the past two de- cades,” Carrie Methvin’s attorneys allege in court documents. McCartney worked in Cheer Athletics gyms in Frisco, Plano and Garland before becoming a part-owner of the club’s gym in Austin, according to court documents. McCartney is already facing legal action from four other former Cheer Athletics members alleging sexual abuse, but Meth- vin’s attorney says her case is especially sig- nificant. “We believe this is the first victim of Ja- son McCartney. This victim is significantly older [than the other plaintiffs], which means [McCartney] would’ve been able to continue abusing minors for decades after this,” Michelle Simpson Tuegel, Methvin’s lawyer, told the Observer. Tuegel also represented several sexual abuse and assault survivors in their lawsuits against Larry Nassar, the former USA Gym- nastics doctor. Nassar was convicted in 2017 of sexually abusing hundreds of young women gymnasts over an 18-year period. The lawsuit is the latest in a series of sex- ual abuse scandals connected to Netflix’s Cheer docuseries. The second season of the show delves into how Navarro’s cheer team reckoned with criminal charges against for- mer teammate and fan favorite Jerry Harris. Harris, one of the stars of Cheer’s first sea- son, is facing child pornography and sexual abuse charges related to his alleged groom- ing and eventual sexual exploitation of two 14-year-old cheerleaders over a two-year period. In 2018, a former Navarro cheerleader sued Navarro College, alleging that coach Andre McGee, who was featured in the first season of the Netflix series, had drugged and sexually assaulted him at a competition. Mc- Gee faced criminal charges that were dis- missed later that year; the family continued to pursue a civil suit against the college. “Mr. McCartney has not been an em- ployee of Cheer Athletics Plano since 2015. Upon his move to Austin, there had been no complaints about Mr. McCartney’s behav- ior,” Cheer Athletics’ Media Team wrote in an email to the Observer. “We were informed by the Austin franchise that they suspended him immediately upon notification of the initial lawsuit in 2021,” they continued. “This shows a pattern of failing to protect kids and of turning a blind eye. It’s so remi- niscent, sadly, of what I saw in the sport of gymnastics,” said Methvin’s attorney Mi- chelle Simpson Tuegel. ▼ POLITICS RUNNING MAN T IMMIGRATION ACTIVIST CHALLENGES LONGTIME INCUMBENT FOR NORTH TEXAS SEAT IN U.S. HOUSE (AGAIN). BY MICHAEL MURNEY his isn’t the first time Carlos Quinta- nilla has run for Congress. In fact, he’s tried to beat out fellow Democrat and U.S. Rep. Marc Veasey three times in primary races since 2016, falling short each time. In 2016, he got a little more than a third of the vote, but last year, he only managed to win over some 5% of voters. Still, Quintanilla, a longtime immigration rights advocate, hopes this year’s primary, scheduled for March 1, will be different. Since first winning the seat in 2012, Veasey has represented Texas’ 33rd congressional district, a swath of North Texas that covers parts of Dallas, Arlington and Fort Worth. The odds aren’t exactly in Quintanilla’s fa- vor. Veasey’s path to another Democratic pri- mary nomination seems straightforward. He has beat Quintanilla before and has nearly a dozen years of congressional experience. Plus, the incumbent also has deep PAC pock- ets and a loyal North Texas following. But Quintanilla’s banking on the hope that increased Latino voting in Texas will help him out this time around. “Latinos showed we are a powerful voting bloc in the U.S. and here in Texas,” Quintanilla said. “We haven’t even seen the >> p6 JANUARY 27–FEBRUARY 2, 2022 MONTH XX–MONTH XX, 2014 DALLAS OBSERVER DALLAS OBSERVER | CLASSIFIED | MUSIC | DISH | MOVIES | CULTURE | NIGHT+DAY | FEATURE | SCHUTZE | UNFAIR PARK | CONTENTS | CLASSIFIED | MUSIC | DISH | CULTURE | UNFAIR PARK | CONTENTS dallasobserver.com dallasobserver.com
