Alleged rapist, fraudster ' guilty of trusting a one-legged Marine'

In reference to allegations of an attempted $115,000 rental-assistance ruse, a 49-year-old Beaumont man accused of being a manipulative “slum lord” – who’s currently facing sexual assault, domestic violence and indecency with a child charges – told a judge Nov. 8 the only behavior he’s guilty of is “trusting a one-legged Marine.”

“You really do speak out of both sides of your mouth,” said Jefferson County Criminal District Court Judge John Stevens after Billy Lynn Woolley – not for the first time – offered an irreconcilable response to a question. And that wasn’t the first, nor last, admonishment the judge rendered in regard to Woolley.

In an hours-long hearing which resulted in bailiffs escorting Woolley into custody, Stevens found the defendant had violated the No. 1 condition of his probation by earning another criminal charge, namely attempted theft. Stevens wasn’t swayed by Woolley’s repeated claims that his secretary, Marine veteran Rodney Gravett, was the architect behind the failed swindling.

His most recent charge stemmed from attempts to file redundant applications to attain rental assistance from the state through Texas Rent Relief (TRR) and Jefferson County through the Emergency Rental Assistance Program (ERAP). TRR initially sent Woolley approximately $70,000 for (a handful of) tennants (in 2021). Personnel working for the Southeast Texas Regional Planning Commission (SETRPC), the group that distributed ERAP funds, noticed suspicious irregularities in forms for Woolley’s residences.

After initially appearing on the 9:30 a.m. docket, Stevens called for Woolley’s hearing to begin just before 11 a.m. Gravett gave testimony first for the prosecution before an ERAP representative outlined the criminal discrepancies found on the defendant’s applications. A brief intermission stalled Woolley’s own testimony till about 2:30 p.m.

“No one ever contacted me or Rodney about it until it hit the paper. I was in line at the bank, seen my name in the paper, and that’s when all this came out,” Woolley said in reference to an article published in The Examiner (on Feb. 24). “The money was never for me, it was to clear (tenants’) debt to me.”

“Wait a minute, didn’t part of it go to bail you out?” asked the prosecutor, Mike Laird.

“Yes, the money bonded me out because I owned the properties and paid taxes on them and fixed them,” responded the defendant.

During the morning interval, Laird called Gravett to the stand to explain how he and Woolley filed duplicate applications for rent relief to TRR and ERAP, all in the defendant’s and property owner’s name. Gravett explained that he was just doing as Woolley instructed, with the latter having the final say in his position of power.

While Laird was questioning Gravett, the prosecution’s first of two witnesses, Woolley could be seen nodding his head at the man after some questions, while commenting on others and answering some himself. That led Judge Stevens to rebuke the defendant for attempting to communicate and influence the man on the stand.

“Just a second,” said Stevens, interrupting Laird’s line of questioning. “Behind your back, Mr. Woolley is nodding vigorously. Do not do that. You’ll have your opportunity to speak. I don’t know why you think you can make these verbal gestures – either helping the witness or responding – but you’ll have your opportunity. Just sit there quietly.”

‘I’m just a bad businessman’

When Woolley did take the stand, several inquiries into his crimes were met with responses revolving around Gravett’s instructions and masterminding.

“I followed whatever Rodney asked me to do,” Woolley said when his attorney asked if he was familiar with how claims are filed and whether he filed any himself.

“When you’re applying for government money, do you think it’s fraud just to make up a number if you don’t have records to say how much?” Laird asked.

“We did the best we could with what we had,” Woolley replied, but denied that he made it up when pressed by the attorney. “I keep bad books, sorry.”

At one point, Laird asked where Gravett’s rental assistance money went – since the man lived on one of Woolley’s properties, and the defendant received TRR money for it. Woolley went on a several-minutes-long description of Gravett’s process for collecting information required to apply for assistance before explaining, “Rodney was going through a divorce. Rodney has one leg. He participates in self medication, and sometimes he forgets things.

“And that doesn’t make him bad; that doesn’t make me bad for trusting him,” Woolley said. “I’m guilty of trusting a one-legged Marine to do my paperwork.

“I’m guilty of trusting somebody who participates in self-medication for a phantom leg pain,” he added.

Judge Stevens took a turn to ask the defendant questions, grilling Woolley over the facts presented in his probable cause affidavit. After the defendant tried to answer yes-or-no questions with exposition, something Woolley did several times in an interview with this reporter, Stevens demanded straight answers from the man.

“Let me speak in English slowly for you,” Stevens retorted when Woolley asked him to repeat a question after the defendant’s own dawdling. Another instance of Woolley’s wandering response led Stevens to quip, “I’m asking you for the time, not how to build a watch.”

Stevens said it seemed like Woolley was claiming ignorance to his own business’ activities, leading Woolley to admit, “I’m pretty ignorant. Unfortunately, I graduated from a high school that misspelled my name on my diploma.

“I’m just a bad business person.”

“You know … while I’m asking you questions, I’m keeping my hand on my wallet – because that’s what I think about the way you answer questions,” Stevens judged. “You don’t answer directly.”

Stevens eventually doubled the man’s bonds in each of his now-five cases, bringing his new total to $500,000; he’ll have to cough up 10% ($50,000) to bail out this time. Information presented in court by the defense and prosecution revealed Woolley paid his last bond with rental assistance funds he received from the state. As of press time Woolley’s name appeared on the Jefferson County inmate roster.