County Judge candidate facing felony weapons, DWI charges

By Jeremy Weber
jweber@campcountynow.com

Election season is in full swing in Camp County as local Republican and Democratic candidates gear up for the March 6 primary.
A total of 10 candidates are on the ballot for County Judge, Justice of the Peace, County Commissioner, County Surveyor, County Treasurer, County Clerk, and District Clerk.
Each year, The Gazette conducts a standard background check on candidates using various public data information sources. Other than traffic violations, the background check returned no criminal activity on any candidate except Democratic County Judge Candidate Gilbert Claude Wilson.
According to police, court records and public data, Mr. Wilson has been arrested three times in the past six years for charges including driving while intoxicated (DWI), public intoxication, and a felony arms arrest in a major U.S. Airport.
While Mr. Wilson does not deny the arrests, he did say in a phone interview Jan. 24 that the cases are still pending in court.
“I have no convictions…there are no convictions,” he said. “All of my convictions have been absolved. So there is not anything on the record. You have to go into the police record to find anything,” Mr. Wilson said.
Mr. Wilson’s most recent appearance in court involved a DWI charge stemming from a May 8, 2013 arrest in the city of Dierks, Ark. According to Howard County court documents dated Jan. 28, 2014, Mr. Wilson originally pled “not guilty” to the DWI charge at his arraignment on Sept. 5, 2013 but later changed that plea to “no contest” in open court on Dec. 19, 2013.
Presiding Judge Jessica S. Gunter found Mr. Wilson guilty of DWI in the District Court of Howard County, Ark. (Dec. 19, 2013) and ordered Mr. Wilson to pay a total of $1,090. On the next day, Dec. 20, 2013, Mr. Wilson appealed the judge’s decision, thus nullifying his plea and her ruling. The case is currently pending in Howard County (Ark.) Circuit Court.
On July 31, 2013, Mr. Wilson was arrested at Austin-Bergstrom International Airport after he was found to be in possession of a firearm at a security checkpoint. Mr. Wilson was taken into custody by the Austin Police Department on charges of unlawfully carrying a weapon in a place where weapons are prohibited. He was released after posting a bond of $7,000.
Regarding the Austin airport weapons charge, Mr. Wilson (a retired Merchant Marine) maintains the situation was a misunderstanding.
“That’s (weapons charge) going to be removed. I have a TWIC (Transportation Worker Identification Credential) card, I don’t even have to go through that (security),” Mr. Wilson said. “I haven’t been convicted of anything. I have a TWIC card. I don’t even have to go through the X-ray machine because of my clearance.”
According to TSA Regional Public Affairs Manager Ann Davis, the possession of a TWIC card would never allow anyone to walk through airport security with a firearm.
“The possession of a TWIC does not render someone exempt from security regulations at the airport,” she said.
Austin Bergstrom Public Information Specialist Jason Zielinski confirmed that a TWIC card has no bearing on airport security.
“Guns can be inside checked-in luggage, but they must be declared. No one can walk through an airport security checkpoint with a firearm. It does not matter who you are or what kind of card you have,” he said.
According to the Austin Police Department and the Travis County District Attorney’s office, Mr. Wilson has not yet been indicted on the weapons charge and the case in awaiting a court date in the 147th U.S. District Court on Feb. 21 (according to docket dated Feb. 17).
The third arrest that showed up in Mr. Wilson’s background check was dated April 15, 2008. According to Mount Pleasant Police records, Mr. Wilson was arrested in Titus County on the charge of public intoxication, which was later dismissed.
Mr. Wilson denied knowledge of this arrest.

For more information, see our E-edition at http://www.etypeservices.com/SWF/LocalUser/Atlanta1//Magazine46368/Full/...