Six defendants charged in a Godley prostitution and organized crime investigation pleaded not guilty Tuesday at an arraignment hearing in Johnson County.
Their first pre-trial hearing was scheduled for Oct. 1.
Last month a Johnson County grand jury indicted the former Godley police chief, his mother, two former police officers and a local couple as part of a prostitution conspiracy investigation that expanded to include sexual assault and organized criminal activity charges.
Arrest warrants obtained by KERA also show investigators allege the former chief, Matthew Cantrell, ousted his predecessor by having two officers file false complaints. He then collaborated with those same officers, Solomon Omotoya and Jeremy Arbuthnot, to arrest a city council member to influence a vote on agenda items, investigators said.
Investigators also claim in an arrest warrant affidavit that Cantrell collaborated with a local couple, Michael and Ashley Ketcherside, who solicited prostitution — and that he would find men for his own wife on an app. The chief was accused of working with the Ketchersides to compile information on people they perceived as enemies.
The warrant states that Cantrell's wife confirmed he had found her a "boyfriend" who was "solicited by defendant to have sexual intercourse" for $200.
His mother — Regina Cantrell, a former Johnson County corrections officer — was accused of looking for active arrest warrants on her son and charged with misuse of official information.
In his indictment, Cantrell also was accused of committing sexual assault while he was a Godley police officer but had not yet become police chief.
Dylan Duke is KERA's breaking news reporter. Got a tip? Email Dylan at dduke@kera.org.
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