Oil Field Heist: McVae Requests a Reduction in Bond

SAN ANGELO, TX — Marcus McVae was in court Monday afternoon asking the judge to reduce his $100,000 bond to a personal recognizance bond. He didn’t have any money, nor did his family. McVae has been sitting in the Tom Green County jail for about 13 months when he was arrested as a suspect in the Oil Field Heist case.

McVae’s court-appointed attorney Shawntell McKillop argued for a reduction in the bond amount to something the McVaes could afford. Her defendant’s mom, LaVerne McVae, was seated at the rear of the courtroom. The 32-year-old defendant was asking for the PR bond.

McVae said on the stand that his mother has health problems and he needs to go live at home and care for her.

McVae’s trial ended in a mistrial April 23. The jury could not reach a unanimous consensus to convict him of aggravated robbery of the David Rogers Construction yard on the Mertzon Highway. McVae is one of eight suspects.

At the mistrial, the State’s prosecution team led by Assistant DA Jason Ferguson said they intended to retry the case. McVae was escorted back to the county jail with the charges still hanging over his head.

The trial is scheduled for June, but both McKillop and Ferguson agreed today that the realistic timeframe for the new trial is in July.

Ferguson argued McVae is a bad guy. The Oilfield Heist episode is his third offense involving violence. He just out of prison in late 2015 before he was accused of the latest incident within about six months, Ferguson argued. Besides that, while serving time in prison for the previous aggravated robbery that occurred in Brownwood, McVae assaulted a peace officer. “He has a problem with reoffending,” Ferguson said.

McKillop countered that since he has been incarcerated in the Tom Green County Jail 13 months ago, there have been no incidents.

Weatherby paused for a moment, reviewed some information on his flat screen monitor at his bench, looked back out at McVae and ruled, “I’m going to deny the request for either a PR bond or bond reduction.”

Visibly disappointed, McVae, shacked and handcuffed, wearing the signature orange Tom Green County Jail smock and rubber shoes, got up, turned around with a longing face and was escorted back across the street to be locked up.

The motion today was for a Writ of Habeas Corpus. The U.S. Constitution demands that courts charge a person who is incarcerated or set them free. Since McVae’s charges will be likely resolved with him being either guilty or innocent in a new trial in June or July, Judge Weatherby has the option to set the bond amount wherever he decides, with consideration for the safety of the community and whether the imprisoned is a flight risk.