Former Sid Miller Aide Pleads Guilty In Texas Hemp Bribery Scheme, Freeing Commissioner From Testifying

A former political consultant to Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller pleaded guilty to a negotiated charge of commercial bribery.

Todd Smith, a former top aide for Miller, was indicted in 2022 for charges on commercial bribery. Miller was set to testify on Smith’s criminal trial on Oct. 21, but now that Smith pleaded guilty the Agriculture Commissioner is free from testifying.

In 2022, Smith was accused of taking money in exchange for state hemp licenses, issued by the Texas Department of Agriculture. According to the Texas Tribune, he would have taken $55,000 as part of the scheme. The TDA only charges $100 for the licenses.

At the time, Miller suggested the arrest was politically motivated and that he didn’t believe Smith did anything wrong.

“It happens every election. They know they’re not going to get you on anything, but the process is the penalty. All they need is a headline: Sid Miller’s political consultant under investigation for selling hemp licenses,” Miller told the Houston Chronicle in 2022. “Well, they brought him in for questioning. They said OK, this was 8 months ago, they said we’re not filing charges and we’re not indicting you, so end of the story, folks, move on. But they got the headlines, so they bring up that old crap.”

The Tribune reported that Smith has had a series of controversies over his ties to the TDA.

For example, in 2018 Smith asked a loan of $29,000 to a San Antonio businessperson in order to give him an appointment with the TDA, according to the Austin American-Statesman. In addition, Miller hired Smith’s wife in a newly created assistant position in 2015.

Miller is in his third-term and is one of the most staunch supporters of former President Donald Trump in the state.