Pecos Credit Union C.E.O. and Former State Employee Sentenced to Federal Prison for Financial Institutional Fraud Conspiracy and Failure to File a Tax Return

In Pecos today, a federal judge sentenced Reeves County Teachers Credit Union (RCTCU) Chief Executive Officer and former state of Texas employee James T. “Jimmy” Dutchover to eight (8) months in federal prison for defrauding the credit union and willfully failing to file a federal income tax return, announced U.S. Attorney John F. Bash; FBI Special Agent in Charge Christopher Combs, San Antonio Division; and, Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI) Special Agent in Charge Richard D. Goss, Houston Field Office.

In addition to the prison term, U.S. District Judge David Counts ordered that Dutchover pay a $4,000 fine as well as all taxes, penalties and interest owed to the IRS.  That amount has yet to be determined.  Judge Counts also ordered that Dutchover be placed on supervised release for a period of three (3) years after completing his prison term.   Dutchover will remain on bond pending formal notification by the U.S. Bureau of Prisons as to the date and facility he is to surrender to begin serving his prison term.

On May 29, 2019, Dutchover pleaded guilty to a Superseding Information charging him with one count of conspiracy to defraud RCTCU and to obtain money and property owned by it or under its care, custody and control by means of materially false and fraudulent pretenses and representations, and one count of willfully failing to file a federal income tax return.

The government noted at sentencing that Dutchover conspired with then State Senator Carlos Uresti to obtain $10,000 from RCTCU by having a loan made in the name of a relative of Dutchover, which was in reality for the benefit of Uresti and was ultimately paid to the victim in the FourWinds case, Denise Cantu.  Further, for the year 2015, Dutchover, having received gross income from several sources, including approximately $9,197 from the State of Texas, wage income in the amount of approximately $107,153 from the Reeves County Teachers Credit Union, and approximately $77,350 from his sole proprietorship, Derich Enterprises, willfully failed to make an income tax return to the IRS.

The FBI’s Public Corruption Task Force consisting of investigators from the FBI and IRS–CI investigated this case.  Assistant U.S. Attorneys William R. Harris and Joseph E. Blackwell prosecuted this case for the government.