Colony Ridge co-owner pleads guilty to drunk driving

A notorious land developer in southeastern Texas has pled guilty to drunk driving even as his company faces continued scrutiny from state and federal officials.

On Tuesday, William "Trey" Harris, who co-owns Colony Ridge with brother John Harris, pled guilty to two counts of driving while intoxicated in connection with two separate incidents that occurred within the past seven months.

Harris headed out to turn himself in for the unknown infraction, but along the way, he ran into some of his 'law enforcement buddies,' who then escorted him to jail.

The first incident occurred on November 3, when Harris was arrested for misdemeanor DWI. In this case, he was assessed a class A misdemeanor, the most severe, because his blood alcohol level exceeded .15, or more than twice the legal limit.

Three months later, Harris was arrested and charged with misdemeanor DWI once again. However, this time, he was assessed a class B misdemeanor because his blood alcohol level was likely not as elevated.

After both arrests, Harris quickly paid bail and was released from jail. He was then arrested a third time on May 17, one day after his bail for those DWI cases was revoked. The Houston Landing suggested that the sudden bail revocation may have come because Harris "failed to appear for a court appearance or violated the terms of his release."

His lawyer, Bryan Cantrell, told the outlet that on May 16, Harris headed out to turn himself in for the unknown infraction, but along the way, he ran into some of his "law enforcement buddies," who then escorted him to jail. He has remained in jail ever since.

Harris' plea agreement with prosecutors sentences him to 45 days in jail including time already served. He must also pay a $12,000 fine and avoid driving a car at least until November. County Court at Law Judge Tracy Sorensen has since approved the agreement.

"He just wanted to get this resolved," Cantrell told the Landing.

While Harris' DWI trouble may soon be over, the lingering lawsuits against Colony Ridge aren't going away anytime soon. Located about a half-hour from Houston and dubbed "the world's largest trailer park," residents in and around Colony Ridge have complained about inadequate infrastructure and unsafe living conditions in the development for about a decade, as Blaze News reported earlier this year.

Though local and county officials have done little to address the problems at Colony Ridge, the development now faces lawsuits from the U.S. Department of Justice and Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton. Both lawsuits claim that the Harris brothers and others affiliated with Colony Ridge have engaged in predatory and fraudulent lending practices that have particularly victimized illegal aliens, who comprise at least 50% of the Colony Ridge population, according to some estimates.

Trey Harris' brother, John, spoke with Blaze Media cofounder Glenn Beck in a Blaze Originals documentary about Colony Ridge. To see that and other Blaze Originals episodes, subscribe to BlazeTV here. A trailer to the Colony Ridge episode can be seen below:

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