COFFEE CITY, Texas — The former chief of the disbanded Coffee City, TX police department was booked in the Henderson County jail Wednesday morning on charges of tampering with government records.
The Coffee City Council fired JohnJay Portillo on Sept. 12, two weeks after KHOU 11 Investigates exposed questionable hiring practices by the chief and legal troubles of his own. In a rare move, city council members also voted unanimously to disband the entire police force.
The new six felony counts in the grand jury indictment allege Portillo repeatedly lied on his Coffee City job application by failing to disclose a driving under the influence charge out of Florida and discipline he received at two previous police agencies in Harris County.
The Texas Commission on Law Enforcement, TCOLE, requires police agency job applicants to disclose any prior citations, arrests, convictions and disciplinary actions on their personal history statements. The form contains a written warning: “Be truthful, as there are criminal consequences for lying on a government document.”
The criminal allegations against Portillo are similar to issues his former officers faced, a KHOU 11 investigation found this summer. Portillo was sworn in as Coffee City Police Chief in April 2021 and quickly expanded the police force to 50 officers for a town of barely 250 people. KHOU 11 Investigates revealed how more than half of those cops had been suspended, demoted, terminated, or dishonorably discharged from their previous law enforcement jobs. The then-chief conceded the appointments allowed officers to work extra jobs, where they earned up to $100,000 a year.
Portillo himself worked extra security jobs. At an apartment complex in Southeast Houston, nearly 200 miles away from his former full-time job in Coffee City, KHOU 11 Investigates uncovered a profanity-laced tirade Portillo launched at an elected Harris County constable, involving a dispute over filing charges on a suspect.
Other Coffee City police officers were part of a “warrant division” and not even required to work in Coffee City. Instead, they worked from home in Houston calling people with outstanding traffic warrants. Portillo dissolved that division after KHOU 11 Investigates questioned its legality.
Portillo did not respond to phone calls for comment Wednesday, but he did address the Florida drunk driving charge in an Aug. 9 interview.
“I just didn’t disclose it. It was over 10 years ago,” Portillo said. “I just put down everything that was in my mind when I filled out my application to the best of my knowledge.”
The felony charges come as Portillo launches a bid to run for Harris County Precinct 3 Constable. With his peace officer’s license at stake and character in question, Portillo’s campaign website states: “I am committed to the highest performance standards, ethical conduct and truthfulness in all relationships with the public.”
He was released on $150,000 bond from the Henderson County jail and the next court date has not been set.
How we got here
In August, City Council members in Coffee City unanimously voted to fire Chief of Police JohnJay Portillo and to deactivate the entire department until a new chief could be hired.
A series of reports done by KHOU 11 Investigative Reporter Jeremy Rogalski led to a deeper look into the Coffee City Police Department and Portillo.
The City Council took less than 15 minutes to reach its decision. This led to the town of 250 people that once had 50 police officers on the force to none.
KHOU 11 Investigates discovered the town had five times the number of cops than any town its size, according to Texas Commission on Law Enforcement records. More than half of the department’s 50 officers had been suspended, demoted, terminated or dishonorably discharged from their previous law enforcement jobs, according to personnel files obtained through open records requests to other law enforcement agencies. Most of the officers were hired by Portillo.
- PART 1: This Texas town has about 250 people. It has 50 sworn police officers.
- PART 2: Caught on camera: Small-town police chief goes on tirade
- PART 3: Coffee City Police Department suspends division after KHOU 11 Investigates questioned its legality
- RELATED: Coffee City police chief suspended after KHOU 11 Investigation
- RELATED: Coffee City mayor ‘shocked’ by KHOU 11 Investigates findings over police hiring practices
- RELATED: In wake of KHOU 11 Investigates reports, Coffee City fires police chief, deactivates police department
KHOU 11 Investigates also uncovered Portillo launched a questionable warrant division, in which full-time Coffee City officers were not even required to work in Coffee City at all.
"There were things that we weren’t aware of and that really just opened our eyes, you know, there’s major changes that have got to be made and made quickly," Coffee City Mayor Jeff Blackstone said in August after Monday’s council vote.
Portillo tried to email his resignation before the meeting, but council members refused to accept the unsigned notice and instead outright fired the police chief.
"We just felt it was best to basically terminate the program, that way we’re able to go out and find a new chief, let him do the proper evaluations and determine if he wants to re-hire anybody or start from scratch," Blackstone said at the time.
The decision was welcome news for some who attended the meeting. They said they have put up with over-aggressive police for too long.
"Ever since we moved here, it was every day a cop pulling in for one reason or another," resident Roseanna Billings said.
"Something needed to happen, that’s for sure," resident David Busch said.
The Henderson County Sheriff’s Office was assigned to respond to calls for service, according to Blackstone.
As for the 50 full-time and reserve officers, Blackstone said they would not be allowed to perform police officer duties unless they were picked up by another department.
Portillo did not return a request for comment after the council vote.
When asked why he would hire so many people with red flags, Portillo defended the practice.
"There’s more to just what’s on paper," Portillo said at the time. "And that's where I rely on my captain and my background investigators to go in and dig and say, ‘Hey, what's that? What's the truth behind this?'"
Portillo said in some cases, the criminal charges officers faced were dismissed or expunged, and the dishonorable discharges overturned after officers appealed them through the State Office of Administrative Hearings. Portillo claimed most of the applicants he’s hired got on the wrong side of agency politics.
Where is Coffee City?
Coffee City is a town in northeast Texas southwest of Tyler.
Watch all of Rogalski's stories on Coffee City below
This is the original three-part series from Jeremy Rogalski on the Coffee City Police Department and the follow-ups.
After our investigation, Portillo was suspended.
Coffee City's mayor said he was shocked by the allegations.