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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2018-03-27 Euless ArticlesEuless gang member goes on trial in 2016 slaying of Hurst woman BY DOMINGO RAMIREZ JR. ramirez@star-telegram.com March 19, 2018 12:52 PM Updated 37 minutes ago Testimony is expected to begin Tuesday in the May 2016 slaying of Loan Nguyen, 35, of Hurst. Star-Telegram archives FORT WORTH In 2005, George E. Folau basked in the glory of a state football championship as an all-district offensive lineman for Euless Trinity. The following year, he graduated. Now he is on trial on a murder charge in the fatal shooting of Loan Nguyen, 35, of Hurst in May 2016. Jury selection began Monday afternoon in Criminal District Court No. 396. Folau, 29, also faces an aggravated robbery charge. Folau was arrested at an apartment property across the street from the Sawgrass Apartment, where the victim lived, after he was found lying on the ground with gunshot wounds. A Sawgrass resident told the Star-Telegram at the time that he had been watching television when he heard three or four loud gunshots outside. He went out onto his balcony and saw a man holding a rifle with a laser scope. He recognized the man as a Sawgrass resident. He said he asked what had happened, and the man responded, "Someone shot my girlfriend." He said the man took a few steps, aimed and fired a few rounds toward the complex across the street. Hurst police have said the shootings were not random. Folau has been free since posting bail shortly after his arrest. He has been described as a debt collector for drug dealers in Tarrant County and an associate of Tongan Crips and Puro Tango Blast, street and prison gangs, according to Tarrant County criminal court documents. His criminal history began in September 2002 when he assaulted someone with his fists, according to court documents. Just days before Nguyen's killing on May 10, 2016, Folau is accused of transporting and delivering drugs in Tarrant County, breaking into a residence and stealing items, and threatening a person with a weapon, according to the court records. Testimony is expected to begin Tuesday morning. A beauty salon in Euless offered to do your hair and taxes, and it didn't turn out well BY PRESCOTTE STOKES III pstokes@star-telegram.com The deadline for filing your taxes this year is Tuesday, April 17, because of a federal holiday Monday in Washington, D.C. Mark Lennihan AP FORT WORTH If you've had your taxes prepared at a beauty salon and tax preparation company in Euless this tax season, you might want to check with the IRS to make sure they're legit — and accurate. A federal court in Fort Worth has permanently barred Munah Harris Youssef and her corporation, 3M & Sons Tax and Beauty Salon L.L.C., from preparing tax returns for others, the Justice Department said in a statement Monday. Youssef's company operated in a strip mall at 4317 W. Pipeline Road in Euless and prepared returns for customers that included false claims of education credits, fuel tax credits and business expenses, according to court documents. Youssef and her company admitted the allegations in the government’s complaint, which was filed in December. U.S. Senior District Judge Terry R. Means ordered that the company be barred from filing, preparing, advising or assisting others in tax preparations, and also allowed the government to monitor Youssef’s ongoing compliance with the order. Tax return preparer fraud is one of the IRS’s Dirty Dozen Tax Scams for 2018. An alphabetical listing of people enjoined from preparing returns and promoting tax schemes can be found on this Justice Department website. Meth led ex-Euless Trinity star to slaying of Hurst woman, prosecutor says BY DOMINGO RAMIREZ JR. ramirez@star-telegram.com A Tarrant County prosecutor told a jury that murder suspect George E. Folau of Euless had lived in a methamphetamine underworld that led to the 2016 killing of a Hurst woman. Tarrant County Jail FORT WORTH A former Euless Trinity football standout and reputed gang member was in the methamphetamine underworld in 2016, and it cost a Hurst woman her life, a prosecutor told a jury Tuesday in the opening statements of a murder trial. Pam Bogges, a Tarrant County assistant district attorney, described for the jury a culture filled with users, distributors and debt collectors, and thefts committed to support the drug habit. Loan Nguyen was shot to death on the night of May 10, 2016, after George E. Folau of Euless and another man arrived at a Hurst apartment. One minute, Nguyen's boyfriend stepped into a bedroom; the next he heard gunshots, Bogges told the jury Tuesday morning. "George Folau was a user and he distributed meth," Bogges, who is prosecuting the case with Tracey Kapsidelis, told jurors. Folau "was there to return property he had stolen and he shot her at point-blank range." Hurst police later discovered a notebook in Nguyen's purse that noted drug transactions. Folau, who is out on $100,000 bail, faces up to life in prison if convicted. The 29- year-old is also accused in the shooting death of Nicholas Jackson, 34, of Fort Worth on May 8, 2016, according to Tarrant County court records. David Bays of Haltom City, Folau's attorney, acknowledged to the jury of two men and 10 women that his client was in a "rough and tumble world." "We're not going to hide his past. George Folau was a young man with a promising future who fell in with the wrong people, " Bays said in his opening statement. "But when the state closes their case, you are going to have more questions than answers in this case." Folau was an all-district offensive tackle for the 2005 state champion Trojans. He has been described as a debt collector for drug dealers in Tarrant County and an associate of Tongan Crips and Puro Tango street and prison gangs, according to Tarrant County criminal court records. Just days before the slaying, Folau is accused of transporting and delivering drugs in Tarrant County and breaking into a residence and stealing items, records state. Bogges told the jury that Nguyen and her boyfriend were expecting Folau at their Hurst apartment and that after she was shot, her boyfriend opened fire on Folau and the other man. The jury heard a 911 call in which a witness reported hearing more than 10 shots fired at an apartment complex in the 1800 block of Sotogrande Boulevard. Courtney Weston testified she was exiting her vehicle when she heard the gunshots. "I saw two men running towards me away from one apartment complex," Weston told the jury. "From the complex where the two men had come from, I saw a tall man with a rifle shooting at them." Folau showed no emotion Tuesday as Weston testified. Several of Folau's family members and friends were in the courtroom. Hurst officers testified Tuesday that the scene was chaotic, with several residents reporting gunshots. Police found Folau with a gunshot wound to his back, but he refused to cooperative with officers, according to testimony. Folau was later identified as one of the two men witnesses had seen running from the apartment. Nancy Nguyen, Loan's younger sister, fought back tears on the witness stand as she told the jury that her sister was the mother of two children. DFW gains a whopping 146,000 residents in 2017 to lead the nation BY BILL HANNA billhanna@star-telegram.com Tarrant County ranked fifth in the nation with a population gain of 32,729, bringing the county's estimated population to 2,054,475. More than 800,000 of those live in Fort Worth. Joyce Marshall Star-Telegram archives FORT WORTH North Texas is still booming — really booming — according to the U.S. Census Bureau's latest population estimates. The Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington metropolitan area’s 146,000-resident jump in 2017 was the most of any metro area in the United States. And six of the top 10 fastest-growing counties in the United States were also in Texas, including Tarrant, Dallas, Denton and Collin. Overall, Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington ranked fourth, with 7,399,662 residents, behind only the New York, Chicago and Los Angeles metro areas and ahead of Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land, which ranked fifth. "In some ways, it continues the story we've been telling that we continue to see substantial growth in urbanized areas in that population triangle between Dallas- Fort Worth, San Antonio-Austin and Houston," said state demographer Lloyd Potter of the University of Texas at San Antonio. In the population estimates from July 1, 2016, to July 1, 2017, Tarrant County ranked fifth in the nation with a population gain of 32,729, bringing the county's estimated population to 2,054,475. Tarrant County is also the third most populous county in Texas, behind only Harris and Dallas counties. City population estimates were not released. "If you look at Tarrant County, it has what I would consider healthy growth," Potter said. The growth in Tarrant County was similar to what was seen in Bexar County (San Antonio), which ranked seventh, Potter said. The growth in Tarrant County was similar to what was seen in Bexar County (San Antonio), which ranked seventh, Potter said. In Tarrant County, 48 percent of the growth is due to natural increases and 52 percent from migration. Although Dallas and Harris counties rank in the top 10, Potter said, both had people moving out, but those numbers are offset by immigrants moving in. The dynamic growth of Denton and Collin counties continues with both cracking the top 10. Collin County has attracted attention for landing the Toyota headquarters, among other new businesses. "Much of that growth is being driven by job creation," Potter said. "If we look at Texas migration, much of that is driven by domestic migration from California, Illinois, New York and also Florida." Of the counties that ring Dallas-Fort Worth — Collin, Denton, Ellis, Johnson, Hood, Hunt, Kaufman, Parker, Rockwall, Somervell and Wise — 74 percent of their growth came from migration. Any impact of Hurricane Harvey on the Texas Gulf Coast population could begin to show up in the next census estimates. DGSE Opens Third Jewelry Refurbishment Center Dallas Gold & Silver Exchange (NYSE American:DGSE), a leading wholesaler and retailer of jewelry, diamonds, fine watches and precious metals, has opened a Jewelry Refurbishment Center in its Euless store to better serve its North Texas customers. The center joins the company’s Dallas flagship store and its Charleston, S.C., location in offering on-site service to restore jewelry to a like-new appearance. The flagship store also includes a comprehensive jewelry and fine watch repair facility. "This is part of our commitment to meet all of our customers’ needs,” said Karen Wood, vice president, who oversees the company’s service departments. "Years of wear can take a toll on jewelry, and we take care of that.” Dallas Gold & Silver operates four stores in North Texas and one in South Carolina. Although the name denotes its renown as a premier buyer and seller of precious metals, all the locations also are high-end jewelry stores, with collections including overstocks and closeouts from luxury retailers, and venerated names like David Yurman, Tiffany & Co. and Cartier. The refurbishment centers offer free inspections of all types of jewelry, and free estimates if any work is necessary. Wood says some of the most common problems are loose gemstones, cracks, and worn-down tips on the prongs that secure the stones on a ring. "We’ll fix all that, and we’ll clean and polish everything so it looks like new,” Wood said. The new Refurbishment Center is located at the Dallas Gold & Jewelry store in Euless Town Center, 1201 Airport Freeway, just west of Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport. The flagship store is at 13022 Preston Road, at LBJ Freeway. Wood recommended that people bring in jewelry that they value every six months for a check-up. "We hope they won’t need anything,” Wood said. "But we also hope they don’t wait too long. Whether a piece is really valuable or just has a lot of sentimental value, we have people who come in and feel terrible because something broke or lost a stone and they hadn’t taken care of it sooner.” DGSE Companies, Inc. wholesales and retails jewelry, diamonds, fine watches, and precious metal bullion and rare coin products through its Charleston Gold & Diamond Exchange and Dallas Gold & Silver Exchange operations. The Company is headquartered in Dallas, Texas, and its common stock trades on the NYSE American exchange under the symbol "DGSE.”