Former New Deal Police Chief Gets Five Years Probation
By: Lisa Carr
Updated: July 31, 2008
A former New Deal police chief will spend the next five years on probation, after a Lubbock jury convicts him of felony perjury.It took the jury just 25 minutes to find Sam Butler guilty of lying under oath about the details of a car accident. Prosecutors says he lied to get worker's comp benefits and a $49,000 settlement from the other driver involved in the wreck. Butler told his insurers he was following a drug dealer when he wrecked his car, but prosecutors convinced the jury Butler defrauded the insurers because he was actually on his way to pick-up a personal prescription.
If Butler violates the terms of his five-year probated sentence, he will have to go to prison for five years and pay a $5,000 fine. He and his attorney, Rod Hobson, would not comment after the trial because Butler still has other charges pending against him.
