Democratic Texas Rep. Jasmine Crockett co-rented a car in 2006 with a previously convicted robber whose car crash caused her to be sued for damages at the start of her law career, records obtained by the Daily Caller News Foundation show.
Crockett and Texas resident Soweto Hoilett rented the vehicle from Budget Rent A Car System after Hoilett was convicted of two robberies and possession of a controlled substance, according to court documents obtained via public databases and records requests. Hoilett’s relationship with Crockett, who declared a run for Senate on Dec. 8, is unclear based on the documents, and the two simply noted their use for the car was “personal.” Hoilett’s car wreck then prompted Crockett to defend herself in court, marking one of her earliest cases as a licensed attorney.
Budget Rent A Car sued Crockett in 2007 for refusing to cough up money over an accident involving Hoilett, citing her rental agreement that she claimed was “invalid.” Crockett settled with the company for roughly $10,400 the following year.
The court records show how a repeat offender receiving light punishment sowed chaos in the future congresswoman’s life. In Congress, she later advocated for reducing incarceration and declining to prosecute low-level theft and other offenses people commit “to survive.” She also frames the justice system as prejudiced against black people and the poor, citing her work in the Bowie County Public Defender’s Office from 2007 to 2010.
Crockett’s office did not respond to multiple requests for comment, and an attorney who assisted her is no longer licensed in Texas.
The DCNF also reached out to an email address listed for Hoilett in public records and the attorney who represented Budget Rent A Car and did not receive responses. Hoilett could not otherwise be reached.
Hoilett pleaded guilty to robbing two people in February and September 1998, with the county dropping a third robbery case against him that year. Hoilett received probation sentences that were later revoked in favor of five years behind bars, the lowest possible sentence for his first-degree felony robbery and slightly above the two-year minimum for the other robbery offense. He was credited with time served.
Oklahoma police later charged Hoilett in June 2005 with drug possession and obstructing an officer after catching him speeding at 91 miles per hour without a valid driver’s license, according to court records. Prosecutors dropped the obstructing charge for a guilty plea on the drug charge, leading to a probation sentence, which a court later accused him of violating.
Hoilett’s attorney in the Oklahoma case told the DCNF he could not recall details.
Eight months later, Crockett rented a Hyundai Sonata with Hoilett as an additional driver in Harris County, a rental agreement shows — setting the stage for her to get wrapped up in his legal troubles.
Crockett called Budget on Nov. 6, 2006, to let them know Hoilett had taken the car to Louisiana and a friend of his ended up finding the vehicle, according to the company’s accident report. Documents from the lawsuit give conflicting dates and scant details for the accident, but Budget said the car was totaled from the damage.
Hoilett was also charged in Harris County with resisting and evading arrest in August 2006, according to police reports. Prosecutors dropped one of the cases over a plea deal, giving him 120 days in jail for a crime that could have brought up to a year.
Budget and Crockett, who became a licensed attorney in November 2006, argued in court filings over whether Crockett should have allowed Hoilett to drive and how much she owed in damages. Crockett accused Budget in court filings of trying to “obtain money by false pretenses and fraudulent representations.”
The company also blasted Crockett for missing multiple filing deadlines in the case, including by not checking her mail.
“Defendant did not intentionally miss the deadline, but instead made a miscalculation of the deadline due to a mistake regarding the Good Friday Holiday,” Crockett’s response to one motion reads.
A judge approved a $10,407.12 settlement in October 2008, forcing Crockett to pay around $4,000 more than what she initially offered, records show.
Hoilett, meanwhile, was arrested in Harris County again in April and November 2007, according to police affidavits. Authorities said he first trespassed into someone’s vehicle and then refused to return a van from Dollar Rent A Car.
The district attorney’s office scrapped the first case after claiming a lack of probable cause to detain Hoilett, while the theft case gave Hoilett seven months behind bars instead of what could have been up to two years.
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