By Kelly Young
kyoung@jacksonvilleprogress.com
Jacksonville Police Department investigators have filed two new criminal charges against House of Israel leader Robert Fox. Officers executed a search warrant Wednesday morning at the House of Israel building, located at 315 Main St., and took Fox into custody for two counts of unauthorized practice of the law.
Police also used search warrants to gain entry into the building on May 15 and May 22. The arrest was made as a result of evidence taken from the building during the commission of the May 22 search warrant.
“The last time we ran a search warrant we recovered numerous documents and files which showed evidence that Mr. Fox had been practicing law without a license,” said Detective Daniel Franklin. “These records show approximately 15 to 20 cases, organized into separate file folders, where Mr. Fox was investigating an individual’s case trying to assist them with their criminal and civil lawsuits.”
Franklin said it is against the law in the state of Texas for a person to practice law without a license if that person is receiving some type of compensation.
“We have record of him accepting money in exchange for his legal help, so he was obviously breaking the law — which is a Class-A misdemeanor in Texas,” he said. “At this point it is still unknown how much money he has received total by working these cases, but we do know of one transaction where he accepted $10,000 for the services he offered.”
A MORE COMPLETE STORY WILL BE PUBLISHED IN THE FRIDAY, JUNE 13, EDITION OF THE DAILY PROGRESS.
