Texas Attorney Who Disses Operation Lone Star Arrested, Accused Of Smuggling Immigrants

A Texas attorney was arrested after being accused of smuggling four illegal immigrants from Mexico.

Timothy Daniel Japhet was arrested on August 13. Although he claimed that the three in the back seat jumped in after the man in front asked for a ride to his jobsite, and that he wanted to be stopped by police and thus was speeding, Galveston County Pct. 2 Constable Jimmy Fullen, who was working with Operation Lone Star, countered that claim.

Japhet said Galveston County Constable Jimmy Fullen got two things wrong in his viral Facebook post. Japhet said he was not cited for resisting arrest and that he is not a "federally appointed immigration magistrate." https://t.co/1JyJnwYyMq

— KYTX CBS19 (@kytxcbs19) August 22, 2022

After noting that Japhet had passed law enforcement officials who had stopped another car, Fullen stated, “Why didn’t you simply pull up alongside them and tell them, ‘Hey guys, I need help.’ Instead he went past them at a high rate of speed and just kept on going.”

Fullen said Japhet was driving a BMW with paper plates and failed “to drive in a single lane,” then “refused to comply” when he was told to turn off the ignition and get out of the car. Japhet said when he was stopped by police that his passengers had informed him their ride to a jobsite in Del Rio had not arrived, and thus he took them, only to find the Del Rio closed.

“The guys then asked me to take them to another jobsite in San Antonio,” Japhet continued.

A female Galveston County Precinct 2 deputy constable who stopped Japhet said he resisted arrest. Fullen said, “She actually reached inside the window, tried to unlock the door from inside, at which point he slapped her hand away.” He added that Japhet claimed to be a judge.

Japhet denied resisting arrest and claiming to be a judge, telling Click 2 Houston, “I may have said that in jail trying not to get shanked.”

“These so-called hitchhikers were soaking wet, which gave a clear indication they had just come across the river,” Fullen noted. He added that the road Japhet drove was a popular route for smugglers hoping to evade detection. Border Patrol figured out that the men were illegal immigrants.

Although Japhet faces smuggling charges, no indictment has been issued, but the Galveston County Precinct 2 deputy constable said she would file resisting arrest charges against him. Japhet was released on August 19 after posting a $40,000 bail bond.

Japhet called Operation Lone Star “unconstitutional” and “political,” according to The Daily Caller. He told 3News, “I’m out on bond until they indict me.”