After appeals denied, Austin real estate investor Nate Paul ordered to jail for 10 days
Travis County District Judge Jan Soifer has ordered Austin real estate investor Nate Paul to jail for 10 days for contempt of court in a lawsuit between Paul and the Mitte Foundation.
AUSTIN (KXAN) – A Travis County district judge on Friday ordered Austin real estate investor Nate Paul to jail for 10 days for contempt of court, according to a court order.
Paul is ordered to report to Travis County jail by the morning of November 15 for the sentence to begin, according to the filing by Travis County District Judge Jan Soifer.
The finding of contempt and potential jail term is tied to a lawsuit between Paul and the Mitte Foundation, a charity that sued him years ago over an investment in his real estate company called World Wide.
On March 3, 2023, Soifer first found Paul in contempt of court and, days later, ordered him to jail by March 15. He was accused of perjury and violating an injunction that required him to report transfers over $25,000, according to court records.
Paul has unsuccessfully fought the jail sentence up to the Texas Supreme Court and federal courts.
He filed petitions with the Texas Supreme Court and U.S. District Court, but both were ultimately denied. He also sought a U.S. Supreme Court review, and that was denied in October, according to court records.
On Thursday, one day before Soifer filed the order for Paul to be committed, Federal District Judge David Ezra denied Paul’s emergency application for a stay.
It isn’t clear if, or how, Paul may continue the fight the impending jail term.
Paul’s cases have been pulled into the spotlight, due to his association with Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton. The Mitte Foundation lawsuit tied Paul to allegations against Paxton for disregarding his official duties by trying to help Paul in the case. Paxton was impeached, tried and acquitted of all articles of impeachment last year.
Federal criminal case
Separate from the 10-day jail sentence issue, Paul is fighting criminal charges in federal court, where he faces a dozen counts of bank and wire fraud. The wire fraud counts carry a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison. The bank fraud counts can carry sentences of up to 30 years each, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.
The trial is scheduled for February 2025.
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