Taral Patel, a once-rising political star in Fort Bend County, was indicted Tuesday by the Fort Bend County District Attorney’s office on four felony counts of online impersonation.
Patel was also handed four class A misdemeanor charges, which is punishable by up to one year in jail, a fine of up to $4,000, or both. Three were for misrepresentation of identity and one for online impersonation through email.
Investigators allege three of the misdemeanor charges were done with the intent to injure a candidate or influence the result of an election, according to the indictments.
Between the felony and misdemeanor charges, investigators allege Patel is attached to six fake online personas.
Patel is charged with the creation of four fake online personas including, the most notable, Antonio Scalywag, which used the likeness of Needville resident Patrick Ernst, an account impersonating district judge Surrendran Pattel and two accounts under the name Jane Donnie and Jennifer Tremaine.
Patel could not be reached for comment.
All the Facebook accounts were created without the victims’ consent. All four accounts were created between Aug.10 and Dec. 18, 2023, according to the indictment.
