State Rep. Joe Driver of Garland may have pleaded guilty to felony abuse-of-office charges last week for pocketing taxpayer money, but that doesn’t mean he has to resign. Nope. Turns out the Travis County court that convicted him gave him deferred adjudication so he can stay in office until his term expires in 2013, and even collect pension funds and state-funded healthcare when he retires.
An investigation by the Associated Press last August revealed that Driver had been billing the state for travel expenses already paid for by his campaign. In the interview, he admitted submitting receipts for luxury hotels, meals and incidentals as well as mileage expenses. Altogether, the AP revealed he had double billed for at least $17,431.55 since 2005…..>>>READ MORE.
