RICHMOND, Texas (Covering Katy News) — The misdemeanor trial for suspended Fort Bend County Judge KP George has been pushed to late July after prosecutors requested more time, saying they want to wait until after his June 16 felony sentencing before moving forward.
The misdemeanor charge — misrepresentation of identity — stems from accusations that George conspired with his former Chief of Staff Taral Patel to create a fake Facebook account that posted racist attacks against him during his 2022 re-election campaign against Trevor Nehls. Prosecutors say the posts were fabricated to falsely appear as though they were coming from a Republican supporter of Nehls, in an effort to generate sympathy for George. George won that race with just 51.6% of the vote, narrowly edging out Nehls by about 8,000 votes out of nearly 246,000 ballots cast. George has denied the accusations.
Patel pleaded guilty in 2025 to two misdemeanor counts of misrepresentation of identity in connection with the scheme and signed an acknowledgment that he committed one of the offenses alongside George. As part of the deal, District Attorney Brian Middleton's office dropped Patel's four felony online impersonation charges pending the completion of his probation.
The misdemeanor trial had been scheduled for May 5. Assistant District Attorney Wesley Wittig said the delay was mutually agreed upon.
"We asked to roll the case past the felony sentencing date. There was no opposition from the defense," Wittig told Houston Public Media.
At the June 16 sentencing, George could face up to 10 years in prison and fines up to $10,000 on his felony money laundering conviction. If convicted on the misdemeanor charge at the July 21 jury trial, he could face an additional year in county jail and fines up to $4,000. George's defense attorney, Jared Woodfill, did not respond to a request for comment.
George was first elected Fort Bend County judge as a Democrat in 2018 and re-elected in 2022. He switched to the Republican Party last summer but finished last in the March 2026 Republican primary, capturing just 8.4% of the vote in a five-candidate field.
Since his felony conviction, Republican nominee Daniel Wong was sworn in as acting county judge on April 13 and will serve in that capacity until the November general election. Wong will face the winner of the May 26 Democratic primary runoff between Precinct 4 Commissioner Dexter McCoy and Sugar Land Municipal Court Associate Judge Rachelle Carter.