Patterson has left the county on the heels of Feit’s departure

By Gregg Romero Wendorf

That was quick. Real quick: Monica Melissa (Palacios) Patterson’s departure from the Hidalgo County Jail. In the early morning hours of last Friday (Jan. 19th), Patterson was loaded onto a prison vehicle and transported to the Lucile Plane State Jail, north of Dayton (East Texas). According to several sources familiar with Patterson’s case and the inner workings of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, the 50-year-old convict will likely be processed at Plane before being permanently assigned to either Huntsville State Prison (70 miles north of Houston) or Gatesville State Prison (30 miles northwest of Waco).
Patterson’s road trip to the Lucile Plane State Jail came only three days after her motion for a new trial was denied (Jan. 16th) by state District Court Judge Noe Gonzalez (the 370th) who took five days to rule on the motion. On Jan. 11th, both Patterson’s appellate attorney and state prosecutors had presented Gonzalez with their respective final written arguments: new trial/no new trial. In the wake of the district court judge’s ruling, the former hospice executive director, failed business owner, and member of one of Hidalgo County’s more prominent political families is still chained to her four-count felony conviction: capital murder; theft from a nonprofit; misapplication of a fiduciary; and attempted theft from her murder victim.

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