A judge granted a defense lawyer’s motion Tuesday for a gag order in a high-profile expungement fraud case involving dozens of felony charges.
Heather Ann Textor, 37, of Lowell, made a brief court appearance Tuesday in Crown Point. She is charged with over 40 felonies, including fraud, forgery and theft.
A three-year Indiana State Police investigation discovered she may have falsified expungement documents and kept the deposit money from the law firm for which she worked.
She posted a $15,000 cash bond Friday, filings show. A status hearing is Nov. 12.
Defense lawyer William Padula asked for the gag order – a rare move – writing in filings that extensive media attention could make “it impossible to have a fair and impartial jury” and a “fair trial.”
He wrote that officials at an Oct. 16 news conference formed their own conclusions on her “character,” “credibility” and “guilt.”
The investigation started in November 2023, after a Gary man seeking an expungement of his criminal record through the Merrillville law firm of Weiss, Schmigdall and Hires hand-delivered to the ISP’s expungement division in Indianapolis what appeared to be fraudulent expungement completion letters, Indiana State Police Spokesman Sgt. Glen Fifield said during the news conference.
People seek expungements for a variety of reasons, and Amanda Hires, a principal with the firm, specializes in the practice, he said.
When the man, identified in court records as James Mobley, whose paperwork was flagged when he attempted to purchase a gun after he received an expungement completion letter, initially called the expungement division with the complaint, an employee in that office said they would contact Hires to get further documentation, according to court records.
After Mobley delivered the fraudulent letters, he spoke to ISP Sgt. Joe White about the situation and told White that he’d dealt with a woman in 2019 from Hires’s office named “Heather,” who first took a $1,000 retainer from him in 2019 and then asked for an additional $600, all of which Mobley paid in cash and provided the receipts, court records said.
He also brought the expungement paperwork, and White said it was clear the signatures of the Lake and Porter County magistrates had been lifted from document files, according to the probable cause affidavit.
Additionally, Mobley showed White text messages which showed he’d been communicating with “Heather” about his expungement case from when he filed in 2019 to the day he drove down to Indianapolis in October 2023, court records said.
White then went to speak to Hires about the situation, records said; initially, Hires said she believed that Mobley fabricated the documents, but once White produced Mobley’s evidence, Hires realized Textor was the fabricator and fired her two days later, White said.
Over the course of the investigation, White and his team were able to identify many other clients from whom Textor took money but never passed them on to Hires to complete the expungements, he said. At least two victims found out their expungements weren’t completed after they were arrested and thrown in jail for warrants that should’ve been cleared.
Court filings show Hires filed a motion Monday to “hold a lien” against Textor’s $15,000 bond for restitution for the law firm when the case is over.
Freelance reporter Michelle L. Quinn contributed; [email protected]