Eiland admits guilt, sentenced to 8 years

GALVESTON— A Chambers County man, known for his social media posts claiming controversial statements and conspiracies about local government officials, pled guilty to five counts of felony forgery.

Travis Eiland, 48, entered the plea Wednesday, May 7, after a day and a half of testimony, to five counts of forgery in the amount greater than $300,000, in the 344th state District Court under visiting Judge Kaycee Jones.

Eiland will serve eight consecutive years without the chance of appeal, which began May 7. He was credited with 30 days already served.

Documents forged surround the revocable trust created by Sandra Eiland, Travis’ mother, encompassing about 50 acres of land within Chambers County. Eiland was initially the trustee, but Sandra later amended the documents naming herself as trustee and Michael Eiland, Sr., as the secondary trustee.

Eiland waived his interest in the trust as part of the plea agreement.

The prosecution, Texas Attorney General’s Office, first introduced evidence, using witnesses from the Mont Belvieu Police Department and Chambers County Sheriff’s Office.

CCSO Capt. Tanner Dickens was the original investigator for the forgery case and utilized MBPD technology to extract data from Sandra’s phone.

Dickens was also the responding officer for a trespassing incident, which took place two days after Sandra died, where Eiland was on Sandra’s property after receiving trespass warnings.

During the incident, Eiland provided documents not filed with the county clerk’s office, claiming to be trustee.

Michael, Eiland’s younger brother, provided documents regarding the amended trust and the will, which stated all acreage is to go to Michael.

Details in the documents and previous trespass warnings led Dickens to arrest Eiland, but he had not yet initiated the forgery investigation.

According to Dickens, dates and details in documents provided by Eiland were later used as a basis for a forgery investigation.

On Jan. 24, 2024, Eiland emailed Dickens, claiming Michael committed fraud. Dickens found no evidence but asked Pierce for her notary logbook to verify documents.

According to Dickens, she sent copies after paying Pierce for the original documents at her request. Because they were not original, the lab could not verify the documents’ origin dates.

Long-time family friend and attorney Randall Strong amended the trust and drafted a will at Sandra’s request after she voiced concerns about Eiland’s ability to manage funds after he lost her retirement money.

“She no longer had any trust in Travis,” Strong said. “She was a little bit afraid of him.”

A trust document presented by AAG Britni Verdeja showed Sandra’s writing stating, “This was signed by Travis in 2020 and I was not sick at all. How could he sign this for me?”

Additionally, Strong stated multiple times that Sandra was aware of her surroundings and certain of what she wanted during each interaction they shared, with Verdeja noting in the original trust that two physicians would have to examine Sandra to determine her as legally incompetent.

Esteban Berberian, MD, who treated Sandra for at least 10 years, said Sandra was a “strong-minded, assertive person” who was very engaged in her own care, stemming from experience as an ER nurse, even after being diagnosed with cancer.

Once Sandra realized Eiland had declared her incompetent, she asked Berberian to write a letter, which stated Sandra was competent, capable and aware.

Jay Pittman, Eiland’s brother-in-law, testified that Sandra moved in with him and his wife in the spring of 2022.

Pittman said Sandra was “nervous, scared, frustrated” and afraid to be on the property alone because of Eiland.

Additionally, Pittman said Eiland had no relationship with Sandra while she was going through chemotherapy, unlike Michael, who was “very loving and very protective.”

During cross-examination, defense attorney Penny Wymyczak-White asked Pittman why only Michael was named as recipient of the acreage in the will.

Pittman said they knew there would be a fight after Sandra’s passing, and Sandi did not want to be involved in the fight, so she asked that only Michael be named.

After some back and forth between Pittman and Wymyczak-White, Wymyczak-White said, “He’s an idiot, I’ll give him that,” motioning to Eiland.

When Michael was on the stand, he testified that his mother was “strong-willed” and “extremely intelligent.”

Michael testified that Sandra was diagnosed with cancer on April 27, 2022, but before the diagnosis, it was believed her symptoms were related to a liver illness.

In the document where Eiland stated Sandra was incompetent, dated April 12, 2022, he cited cancer as the cause.

On April 12, 2022, Michael and Sandra attempted to meet with Eiland at Pierce’s residence regarding missing funds from their joint business. Eiland locked himself in a room and refused to come out to talk with them, according to Michael.

After the state rested, the defense requested a meeting with the prosecution. Once back in the courtroom, AAG Dorian Cotlar asked Jones for a plea agreement, which was granted.

With Pierce as the notary for most documents, the defense asked that one of the plea conditions be that the state not indict her, which was granted.

During victim impact statements, Michael said, “Mom asked me to tell you that she loves you,” and the brothers both began to cry.

Eiland's older sister, Sandi Pittman, also gave a statement.

“You are still our brother and we still love you,” Pittman said. “Mom told us to forgive you.”

After Eiland pleaded guilty, Sheriff Brian Hawthorne said he was proud of the work his team and Dickens put into the case.

"The evidence was solid,” Hawthorne said. “I think they were concerned that the punishment that the jury may give would be a lot harsher, so I think that’s the reason the defense counsel immediately sought a plea bargain.”

District Attorney Cheryl Lieck and Hawthorne thanked the AG's team in Facebook statements.

“Justice prevailed today. After 18 long months of enduring slander, defamation, harassment, and calculated criminal manipulation, the truth has finally come to light,” Lieck said.

“I put a big thank you out there to all of Chambers County government. They have weathered an insane amount of abuse and, in my opinion, harassment,” Michael said.

Harassment claims against Eiland and Jason Arnold will likely be heard in the near future after Justice of the Peace Pct. 5 Chief Clerk Autumn Poole and ADA Mallory Vargas filed a suit against the pair for injury and damage due to defamation, libel and slander in late April.