Tyler

EDITOR'S NOTE: The names of the victims in this article are not identified in keeping with the Tyler Morning Telegraph's policy to protect the identity of victims of sexual abuse and to encourage the reporting of such crimes.

By CASEY KNAUPP
Staff Writer

Former Jacksonville Police officer Larry Pugh pleaded guilty Friday to lying about pleading guilty to sexually assaulting women while on duty.

Pugh, 34, pleaded guilty to making a false declaration in court while he was sworn under oath to tell the truth.

He pleaded guilty to three federal charges Sept. 28, 2006, admitting that he violated the civil rights of two women when he sexually assaulted them while on duty, and for retaliating against one of the victims who reported the offense. He was sentenced to 12 years for the crimes.

During a civil trial brought on by one of his victims, while again under oath on June 12, Pugh said he did not plead guilty because he was guilty, claiming instead because it was in the best interest of his four young children.

In U.S. Magistrate Judge Judith Guthrie's court on Friday, admitted that he made two declarations under oath that were contradictory to each other and inconsistent to the point that one was false.

"Are you pleading guilty today because you are guilty," Judge Guthrie asked him.

"Yes ma'am, I am," Pugh replied, again while he was under oath.

"How do you plea ...?" Judge Guthrie asked.

"I plead guilty your honor," he said.

The perjury charge carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison but defense attorney Rex Thompson said he estimated Pugh's sentencing guideline range would be one to two years in prison.

Pugh was scheduled to go to trial Monday for the charge before he pleaded guilty on Friday. His sentencing date has not been set. Assistant U.S. Attorney Alan Jackson, who is prosecuting the case, and FBI agents were in court during the plea hearing on Friday.

Pugh pleaded guilty Aug. 9 to state charges in Cherokee County and received 12 years for aggravated assault and two counts of improper conduct with a person in custody. That sentence will be served at the same time as his 12-year federal sentence because the charges concern the same two victims.

In the retaliation case, Pugh confronted the woman, wrapped his belt around her neck and was dragging her into his van before the belt broke and the woman escaped.

In the sexual assault cases, Pugh arrested the woman and then released her after she had sex with him. In the other, Pugh offered the woman a courtesy ride, took her to a mobile home and had sex with her, and then drove her back to her neighborhood, officials said.

Three lawsuits filed by nine women claim Pugh forced them to have sex with him at their homes, abandoned apartments and a cemetery.

They claim he threatened to arrest them if they did not comply with his demands.

Another potential witness against Pugh, 38-year-old Terri Renee Reyes, of Athens, was last seen in May 2006, while Pugh was out of jail on bond for the federal charges. The woman's body was found last fall, unclothed and without identification in the Angelina National Forest, in San Augustine County, where Pugh grew up. The body was identified as Ms. Reyes in June.

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