The last of three people has been convicted in the 2020 theft of more than 231,000 pounds of food and household items from a Willis ISD facility that provides food, clothes and other assistance to families in need.
Jason Fochtman, Houston Chronicle / Staff photographerConroe resident Christopher Paul Walker, 44, pleaded guilty to theft Monday and was sentenced by 435th state District Judge Patty Maginnis to 12 years in prison because he had prior felony convictions.
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In August 2020, the Montgomery County Precinct 1 Constable’s Office received a tip about suspicious activity at the Willis ISD Parent Support Center at Roark Early Education Center at 606 N. Campbell in Willis, according to a news release from the constable’s office.
Following a six month investigation, detectives learned Teresa Joyce Herod, 75, of Willis, Samuel Anthony Saldana, 52, of Houston, and Walker were stealing food and household items from the center.
The tip led Precinct 1’s Willis ISD officers to review surveillance footage on campus, which showed Herod and Walker loading trucks with donated items, sometimes within hours of the county food bank dropping off donations, the constable’s office reported.
Items stolen included chips, drinks, toasters, blenders, cosmetics, shampoo, conditioner, toothpaste, bandages and over-the-counter medication, Precinct 1 listed. Investigators, along with the Montgomery County District Attorney’s Office, put the value of items stolen at a conservative estimate of at least $30,000, Precinct 1 spokesman Chief Deputy Joe Sclider said in a previous article.
The school district employed Herod to manage the center, while Walker was a volunteer, according to Sclider. Herod and Walker, Sclider said, had a booth at a flea market where they met Saldana, who offered to buy the stolen goods to resell at different marketplaces.
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Herod pleaded guilty in February to theft and was sentenced by Maginnis to 10 years in prison. Her sentence was probated to eight years. Saldana pleaded guilty to engaging in organized criminal activity in September 2022 and was sentenced by Maginnis to 5 years in prison but was probated to five years, according to court documents.
Herod was ordered to pay $8,000 in restitution to Willis ISD, and Saldana was fined $7,000 and ordered to pay $932 in restitution to Willis ISD and $5,000 to the Montgomery County Food Bank.