Michael T. Shelby

Last updated April 24, 2019

Michael Taylor "Mike" Shelby (November 5, 1958 – July 18, 2006) was a prominent Houston lawyer who served as the United States attorney for the Southern District of Texas from 2002–2005. He was appointed U.S. attorney by President George W. Bush, on the recommendation of Republican U.S. Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison.

George W. Bush 43rd president of the United States

George Walker Bush is an American politician and businessman who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. He had previously served as the 46th governor of Texas from 1995 to 2000.

The Republican Party, also referred to as the GOP, is one of the two major political parties in the United States; the other is its historic rival, the Democratic Party.

Kay Bailey Hutchison is an American attorney, television correspondent, politician, and diplomat who is the 22nd United States Permanent Representative to NATO. A member of the Republican Party, she was previously a United States Senator for Texas from 1993 to 2013.

Shelby resigned as U.S. attorney in 2005 for personal financial reasons and became a full partner in the Houston firm of Fulbright & Jaworski, named in part for the late Watergate prosecutor Leon Jaworski. He headed the firm's white-collar defense practice. Thereafter, he was stricken with cancer, which had reached into his spine. According to the Harris County coroner, an autopsy revealed that Shelby ended his life by firing a handgun to his chest.

Fulbright & Jaworski L.L.P., was founded in Houston in 1919 by R.C. Fulbright. On June 3, 2013, the firm became part of the global law firm Norton Rose Fulbright, a Swiss verein.

Leonidas "Leon" Jaworski was an American attorney and law professor who served as the second special prosecutor during the Watergate Scandal. He was appointed to that position on November 1, 1973, soon after the Saturday Night Massacre of October 19–20, 1973, that resulted in the dismissal of his predecessor, Archibald Cox.

White-collar crime financially motivated nonviolent crime committed by business and government professionals

White-collar crime refers to financially motivated, nonviolent crime committed by businesses and government professionals. It was first defined by the sociologist Edwin Sutherland in 1939 as "a crime committed by a person of respectability and high social status in the course of their occupation". Typical white-collar crimes could include wage theft, fraud, bribery, Ponzi schemes, insider trading, labor racketeering, embezzlement, cybercrime, copyright infringement, money laundering, identity theft, and forgery. Lawyers can specialize in white-collar crime.

Early years, education, family

Shelby was born in Luling in Caldwell County near San Marcos to Dr. David Martin Shelby (1914–1996), who resided in Gonzales at the time of his death, and the former Marilyn Seay. Shelby grew up in Houston.

Luling is a city in Caldwell and Guadalupe counties, Texas, United States, along the San Marcos River. The population, as of the 2010 census, was 5,411, and the population was estimated at 5,764 in 2015. The town was named after a New York banker, Charles Luling. He was a personal friend of Thomas Wentworth Pierce, and provided the financing for the railroad as well the purchase of the land that became Luling. The Caldwell County portion of Luling is part of the Austin metropolitan area.

Caldwell County is a county in the U.S. state of Texas. As of the 2010 census, the population was 38,066. Its county seat is Lockhart. The county was founded in 1848 and named after Mathew Caldwell, a ranger captain who fought in the Battle of Plum Creek against the Comanches and against Santa Anna's armies during the Texas Revolution. Caldwell was also a signer of the Texas Declaration of Independence.

San Marcos is a city in the U.S. state of Texas, within the Austin–Round Rock–San Marcos metropolitan area. It is on the Interstate 35 corridor between Austin and San Antonio and is the seat of Hays County. Its limits extend into Caldwell and Guadalupe counties, as well. Its population was 44,894 at the 2010 census and was an estimated 63,071 in 2017.

He attended Texas A&M University in College Station on a debate scholarship and graduated with a bachelor of science degree in 1981. He attended the University of Texas School of Law in Austin, where he was the chairman of the Board of Advocates. He was active in Moot Court and, as of 2006, was the only student to have twice won the prestigious Hildebrand Moot Court competition.

Texas A&M University is a public research university in College Station, Texas, United States. Since 1948, it has been the founding member of the Texas A&M University System. The Texas A&M system endowment is among the 10 largest endowments in the nation. As of 2017, Texas A&M's student body is the largest in Texas and the second largest in the United States. Texas A&M's designation as a land, sea, and space grant institution–the only university in Texas to hold all three designations–reflects a range of research with ongoing projects funded by organizations such as the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the National Institutes of Health, the National Science Foundation, and the Office of Naval Research. In 2001, Texas A&M was inducted as a member of the Association of American Universities. The school's students, alumni—over 450,000 strong—and sports teams are known as Aggies. The Texas A&M Aggies athletes compete in 18 varsity sports as a member of the Southeastern Conference.

College Station, Texas City in Texas, United States

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In law school, he met and married the former Diana Jane Van Hooser. The couple made their home in Houston, where their two daughters, Elizabeth Jane Shelby and Sarah Seay Shelby, were born.

Legal Career

Shelby worked for five years as an assistant district attorney in Harris County. He served primarily in the Special Prosecutions Division. In 1989, he joined the U.S. attorney's office in Houston as an assistant U.S. attorney, with specialization in the investigation and prosecution of cases involving public corruption, organized crime, and environmental law.

Organized crime groupings of highly centralized criminal enterprises

Organized crime is a category of transnational, national, or local groupings of highly centralized enterprises run by criminals who intend to engage in illegal activity, most commonly for profit. Some criminal organizations, such as terrorist groups, are politically motivated. Sometimes criminal organizations force people to do business with them, such as when a gang extorts money from shopkeepers for "protection". Gangs may become disciplined enough to be considered organized. A criminal organization or gang can also be referred to as a mafia, mob, or crime syndicate; the network, subculture and community of criminals may be referred to as the underworld. European sociologists define the mafia as a type of organized crime group that specializes in the supply of extra-legal protection and quasi law enforcement. Gambetta's classic work on the Sicilian Mafia generates an economic study of the mafia, which exerts great influence on studies of the Russian Mafia, the Chinese Mafia, Hong Kong Triads and the Japanese Yakuza.

In 1997, the Shelbys moved to Phoenix, where he continued his work as an assistant U.S. attorney, with specialization in the prosecution of corrupt public officials and international narcotics trafficking. The Shelbys returned to Houston in 2002, when he became full U.S. attorney for the Southern District of Texas.

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Shelby received many commendations for his work from the Department of Justice, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, the U.S. Customs Service, the United States Environmental Protection Agency, the Internal Revenue Service, and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. He received personal letters of commendation from former Attorney General Janet Reno and former FBI directors Louis Freeh and William Sessions.

Shelby was a commissioned officer in the U.S. Naval Reserve and held the rank of commander. He was a decorated veteran with active-duty service in the Middle East during Operation Desert Storm and later in Bosnia.

Texas Legislature

In March 1992, Shelby entered the Republican primary for the District 134 seat in the Texas House of Representatives. In a three-man field, he ran second to Kyle Janek, with Tim Turner finishing in a strong third place. Janek led with 2,242 (34.8 percent) to Shelby's 2,172 (33.7 percent) and Turner's 2,032 (31.5 percent). In the GOP runoff the following month, which had a low turnout of voters, Janek was a narrow winner over Shelby, 1,756 (51.2 percent) to 1,675 (48.8 percent). Janek lost the seat in the general election but won it in 1994 and was then elected to the Texas State Senate in 2002.

Election history

Most recent election

1992

Republican primary runoff, 1992: House District 134 ^[1]
Candidate		Votes	%
✓	Kyle Janek	1,756	51.18
	Mike Shelby	1,675	48.82
Turnout		3,431

Republican primary, 1992: House District 134 ^[2]
Candidate		Votes	%
✓	Kyle Janek	2,242	34.78
✓	Mike Shelby	2,172	33.70
	Tim Turner	2,032	31.52
Turnout		6,446

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References

↑ "1992 Republican Party Primary Runoff Election". Office of the Secretary of State (Texas). Archived from the original on 2014-01-09. Retrieved 2006-12-24.
↑ "1992 Republican Party Primary Election". Office of the Secretary of State (Texas). Archived from the original on 2014-01-09. Retrieved 2006-12-24.

"Autopsy shows lawyer Shelby killed himself," Associated Press, July 21, 2006
Michael Shelby obituary, Laredo Morning Times
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/4056475.html
https://web.archive.org/web/20140109062336/http://elections.sos.state.tx.us/elchist.exe

External links

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Preceded by Mervyn Milton Mosbacker	United States Attorney for the Southern District of Texas 2002–2005	Succeeded by Donald J. DeGabrielle

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[1] "1992 Republican Party Primary Runoff Election". Office of the Secretary of State (Texas). Archived from the original on 2014-01-09. Retrieved 2006-12-24.

[2] "1992 Republican Party Primary Election". Office of the Secretary of State (Texas). Archived from the original on 2014-01-09. Retrieved 2006-12-24.