Smith Indicted for Misappropriation of Gatorfest Funds

By 6KFDM News, Beaumont, Scott Lawrence/Gloria Way

  Chambers County deputies took Anahuac resident Katelynn Smith into custody early Saturday morning on charges of misappropriation of funds. Last Thursday, a grand jury in Chambers County indicted Smith on charges of stealing between $30,000 and $150,000 from TEXAS Gatorfest. Gatorfest is a longtime festival held in Anahuac every September. Smith, who was the executive director of the Anahuac Area Chamber of Commerce (AACC), was also in charge of organizing and fundraising for TEXAS Gatorfest. The charge against Smith is a 3^rd degree felony. If convicted, Smith could face two to ten years in prison and up to a $10,000 fine.

  Due to the alleged misappropriation of funds, 2026 TEXAS Gatorfest has been cancelled much to the chagrin of the community. Community organizers are creating an event called “Marsh Master Fest” which is separate from the AACC and TEXAS Gatorfest.

  Smith resigned as executive director of the AACC as well as all AACC board members. To date, no other board members have been charged or indicted in the alleged misappropriation of funds.

  According to 6KFDM, Chambers County Sheriff Brian Hawthorne stated, “The AACC Board of Directors did not appear to be meeting their responsibilities in requiring regular board meetings and requiring treasurer reports, actual financial reports, showing how the money was being used and managed, and henceforth it appears that this potentially has taken place over the last couple of years. This is still under investigation and very early in the investigative aspect of it. We still don’t have a lot of the financial records we’ve subpoenaed. Others could be involved in this.” In an earlier update from the District Attorney’s Office, it was confirmed that other individuals still needed to be interviewed as well as additional bank and credit card documents needed to be acquired. “The dollar amount is above 30,000 plus,” said Hawthorne. “That’s the reason there’s range there on the felony charge. We are still waiting for documents from different organizations and companies such as Amazon and Apple.”

  The chamber was intertwined with Gatorfest, Sheriff Hawthorne said. The chamber disbanded, but a group of business owners is trying to keep a ‘placeholder’ for an event that would take the place of Gatorfest in 2027. “They’re hoping the chamber resumes and they have that placeholder,” said Hawthorne.

  Every year, Gatorfest brought in hundreds of thousands of dollars to the community. “The chamber is very deep in the red,” Hawthorne said. “They still owe vendors tens of thousands of dollars.”

  Sheriff Hawthorne wants to deliver a message to the community about the events that have unfolded. “We will continue to investigate and hold people accountable,” said Hawthorne. “The intent of the Chambers County Sheriff’s Office and the District Attorney is to hold people accountable for this failure of fiduciary trust the community gave them.”