Frances Hall was sentenced to 10 years deferred adjudication after pleading no contest to charges she was part of a multimillion dollar fraud scheme while she was co-owner of Bill Hall Jr. Trucking in San Antonio, Texas.
Hall was sentenced Wednesday in the 147th District Court in Austin, Texas. As part of her no contest plea, Hall will also pay $150,000 in restitution.
Deferred adjudication is a type of probation in criminal cases that allows a defendant to avoid a conviction by staying in the community and meeting certain conditions.
In 2022, Hall was charged for providing false payroll information over a seven-year period to avoid more than $9 million in insurance premium payments while she was co-owner of the company with her late husband, Bill Hall Jr.
Related: Wife of slain Texas trucking magnate now charged in massive fraud
Prosecutors said insurance fraud is far from a victimless crime. Jessica Bergeman, the Travis County prosecutor who obtained the indictment, is a member of the state’s Division of Workers’ Compensation prosecution unit.
“The Texas workers’ compensation system is funded through premiums that employers pay,” Bergeman said in a statement. “The system relies on the integrity of all who participate to ensure that workers’ compensation is viable and able to protect injured workers.”
Hall’s attorney, Leigh Cutter, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Hall garnered national headlines in 2016 when she was convicted in the death of her husband of 32 years, Bill Hall Jr.
Together, the couple had built Bill Hall Jr. Trucking, which hauled gravel and other materials for road construction. The carrier is still active and doing business under the name of Iron Horse Transportation and Construction with a fleet of 44 trucks, according to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration.
Hall knocked her husband’s motorcycle off a San Antonio highway in 2013 while she was chasing his mistress, who was in another vehicle on the same road. Bill Hall Jr. was following his mistress’ vehicle on his motorcycle. Frances Hall said it was an accident.
Hall was convicted of murder and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon in 2016. She received a two-year sentence — the lightest sentence possible — after jurors found she acted with “sudden passion.” Hall was released from prison in 2018.
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