Former Payne Springs police chief receives 15 years in prison for selling seized drugs

HENDERSON COUNTY, Texas (KLTV) – A judge has sentenced a former Henderson County police chief to 15 years in prison for drug trafficking.

April Meadows, 39, of Maybank, was sentenced to 15 years imprisonment for trafficking in controlled substances and a concurrent two-year term for money laundering.

Meadows received the verdict on Tuesday.

She pleaded guilty in June without a plea agreement. With the open plea, Meadows has no right to appeal.

Meadows was arrested in 2023 after a tip revealed that she and Reserve Officer Jonathan Paul Hutchison were dealing drugs that had previously been seized by Payne Springs Police. When officers executed search warrants at Meadows and Hutchison's homes, controlled substances were found.

Hutchison was sentenced to 20 years in prison on August 14.

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