Former Houston state Rep. Ron Wilson pleads guilty to tax evasion

A former state representative who once chaired the powerful committee in the Texas House that writes tax policy has pleaded guilty to tax evasion. Ronald Ray Wilson, who grew up in Houston’s Sunnyside neighborhood and represented it in Austin from 1977 to 2004, acknowledged to federal investigators that he had failed to pay nearly $800,000 in taxes. His sentencing is scheduled for early next year, and he faces a maximum of five years in prison, a Department of Justice news release said. He will face a maximum fine of $250,000 in addition to paying back the $794,632.10 that he owes the federal government.

Throughout Wilson’s long tenure in the House, he distinguished himself as one of the most colorful characters in Texas politics. An attorney, he represented musicians including Scarface and Bushwick Bill of the Geto Boys rap group. Wilson built a 3,000-square-foot home in the neighborhood that he lived in throughout his political career, protected by a 6-foot fence, two Great Dane trained attack dogs and a large gun collection that Wilson said he was willing — even eager — to use against intruders. "I almost did one time," Wilson told a Houston Chronicle reporter in 1992, referring to a burglar on his property. "I wanted to shoot him. I wanted to kill him. It would have been the wrong thing to do.” He also enjoyed going against type as a successful attorney, wearing leather jackets and baggy pants instead of tailored suits, and was known to drive an orange Lamborghini around his Sunnyside neighborhood.