FORT BEND COUNTY, Texas – An up-and-coming political star in Fort Bend County is facing additional allegations of pretending to be someone else on the internet.
Taral Patel, 30, is currently on bond facing charges of online impersonation and misrepresentation of identity after he allegedly created a fake Facebook account and used it to post harmful, racist messages targeting his opponents and his own campaign.
According to a new search warrant obtained by KPRC 2 News on Tuesday, Patel also allegedly created a Facebook account impersonating Fort Bend County 240th Criminal District Court Judge Surendran Pattel and he’s being investigated for an additional charge of online impersonation.
As of Tuesday evening, the Fort Bend County District Attorney’s Office told KPRC 2 he has not been charged with any additional crimes.
Patel is a former Biden White House appointee and is now running for Fort Bend County Precinct 3 Commissioner.
“There is nothing more inherently damaging to a criminal defendant than law enforcement getting a warrant to search a device like this,” KPRC 2 Legal Analyst Brian Wice said.
After Patel’s arrest in June, the search warrant affidavit reveals law enforcement searched a Google phone he had in his possession and found a Facebook account listed for Surendran Pattel connected to an email address for Patel.
When interviewed by investigators on Monday, Judge Pattel allegedly told them he didn’t create it and didn’t authorize anyone else to create it, even though it had the same photo he used on his personal profile.
Judge Pattel was the criminal judge assigned to candidate Patel’s pending criminal cases, but court records show the case has now been moved to a different court.
Judge Pattel told KPRC 2 he recused himself “because I know this person and because of the new allegations of impersonation.”
“You don’t need to binge watch Law and Order to recognize that a judge cannot be fair and impartial if he or she happens to be the victim, no matter how hard they try,” Wice said.
Candidate Patel was already in trouble with the law because an investigation by the Texas Rangers and Fort Bend County District Attorney’s Office revealed he portrayed himself as someone else on the internet without proper consent and did so with the intent to harm, defraud, intimidate or threaten.
He allegedly created a fake Facebook account using the name Antonio Scalywag and a profile photo of a Needville man, who apparently had no idea, that he then used for attacks on his opponents and his own campaign.
The Scalywag account became friends with the fake Judge Pattel account in July 2021, the search warrant shows, before making “several comments ... complimentary” to the judge.
The accounts exchanged several direct messages, the search warrant shows, which investigators described as “friendly in nature.”
In January 2022, the fake judge account “appeared ... upset with something Antonio Scalywag had posted publicly,” records show.
Investigators wrote that there was no further communication until November 2023, when Antonio Scalywag sent several messages to the fake judge account and tried to call using Facebook messenger.
Patel and his campaign have not responded to any of KPRC 2′s requests for comment.
Reached by phone Tuesday evening, Fort Bend County Democratic Party chairman Fred Taylor said he had no comment on the pending criminal matters, but that everyone deserves due process and their day in court.
KPRC 2 Investigates has followed up with Houston Mayor John Whitmire’s Office as well as Harris County Precinct 2 Commissioner Adrian Garcia’s Office, as both elected officials are listed as endorsers on Patel’s website.