Next week, a Fort Worth court will either send Dylan Lofton to prison or reinstate the probation he received last year after telephoning threats to a county commissioner. One issue is whether mentally ill offenders belong in jail. Another is whether politics influenced Republican officials’ handling of the case against a former Democratic Party volunteer.
Lofton’s mother has no doubt about whether her 28-year-old son is getting fair treatment.
“We’ve tried to make them aware from the very beginning that this is a mental illness situation,” said Crystal Ledet. “They’ve just thrown the book at him.”
Why Lofton might receive harsher handling is another question. Some who know both Lofton and the local political scene say they know the answer.
“This is saturated in politics,” said one Democratic insider who knew Lofton but did not wish to be identified. “I don’t think this would be happening the way it is if the general election were not happening now. There is not a Republican in Tarrant County that is not afraid and concerned about this election cycle.”
It’s certain that last March Lofton made a series of phone calls to the office of Commissioner Manny Ramirez. In graphic, racist language, Lofton threatened Ramirez with physical harm.
Fort Worth police traced the calls to Lofton’s apartment and arrested him. District Attorney Phil Sorrells’ office charged Lofton with a felony for threatening a law enforcement officer. Ramirez, a former policeman, is still technically a reserve officer.
Lofton was held in the county jail until November, when he pleaded guilty and received a sentence of five years of probation. In similar cases when mental illness appears present, Tarrant County MHMR typically shows up when inmates are released. They counsel family members and ensure the person’s mental health needs are addressed. That didn’t happen this time.
Within days, Lofton’s parents, concerned about his increasingly erratic behavior, called 911. Ledet said they wanted an ambulance. Instead, they got Fort Worth police, who escorted Lofton to John Peter Smith Hospital’s psychiatric unit. While there, Lofton was diagnosed with schizophrenia and began taking medication. He improved and was released to his parents.
The same day, Lofton reported to his probation officer and was promptly arrested for violating probation, which required wearing an ankle monitor, as well as threatening a family member. Ledet denied reporting threats. She also said the probation office told her that not wearing the monitor in the hospital would not be a violation.
Regardless, Lofton was arrested and has been in jail since. The hearing to decide whether to reinstate probation or send him to prison for two to 10 years happens Thursday, Feb. 12, in Judge Andy Porter’s Criminal District Court 4.
The district attorney’s office declined comment on its plans for the hearing. However, Ledet said the public defender assigned to the case expects prosecutors to demand prison time. The case is not being heard in the mental health diversion court set up to help incarcerated persons with mental illness receive treatment instead of jail.
People who know Lofton agree that, until a few years ago, he was a model citizen. A graduate of Chisholm Trail High School and TCU, Lofton went to law school in Arkansas and become a licensed attorney in Texas. He was active in the Democratic Party for a few years starting about a decade ago and eventually served as a precinct chair.
Lofton worked for Justice of the Peace Sergio De Leon before and after law school. The judge wrote letters of recommendation for his law school application.
Lofton, De Leon said, was “a very nice, respectable, and overall great person. Otherwise, we would not have had him come back twice. It took us as a complete shock the things that he did and the issues he experienced.”
Tarrant County Democratic Party Chair Allison Campolo got to know Lofton as a party volunteer and said he stood out for his commitment and character.
“Dylan was one of those important voices,” Campolo said. “He was always coming to council meetings. He was always protesting.”
Another local political activist agreed. “He was always unfailingly respectful, the absolute model Boy Scout. He would say ‘yes, ma’am’ and ‘no, ma’am.’ ”
And numerous additional colleagues and friends signed notarized affidavits attesting to Lofton’s sterling character and behavior.
It’s also agreed that a few years ago, Lofton began behaving erratically. He quit his first job as a lawyer, citing fears that he was being conspired against at work. He lost another job and used alcohol excessively.
By last spring, Lofton was claiming to be born in Ireland, the son of an Irish Republican Army bomber, and not related to his actual mother. He began speaking to everyone in an Irish accent, including when making the offending phone calls to Ramirez.
Lofton’s bizarre behavior didn’t stop MHMR from certifying him as competent. His parents hired an independent forensic psychologist to examine him. She found Lofton was schizophrenic and suffering from paranoid delusions and recommended hospitalization.
The court, however, accepted Lofton’s guilty plea to the criminal charges and released him on probation. Soon after, he expressed a belief that he was engaged to be married to then-local Fox television reporter Hanna Battah, now with Good Morning America.
Shortly afterward, Lofton’s behavior deteriorated further, and his parents called for help. That led him to JPS, where doctors diagnosed schizophrenia and began treatment.
Back in March when Lofton was arrested for the threats, many people had concerns about political tension. At the time, Ramirez said, “I hope that there’s an awareness out there that the level of rhetoric and the level of violent threats is growing, and it’s unacceptable.”
Ramirez’s hopes were seemingly fulfilled, given Lofton’s eight-month jail stay and rapid arrest after being released on probation. Since then, Lofton has continued being treated as a dangerous criminal who deserves jail rather than a mentally ill person with a treatable condition.
“This was a crime and should be treated as such,” said one observer who requested anonymity for privacy’s sake, “but once you find that someone is suffering from acute mental illness, it should be treated appropriately. No one else who has this kind of charge against him sits in jail for eight months and receives this kind of treatment.”
Their theory is that local Republican officials are posturing about being threatened by dangerous liberals.
Others trace Lofton’s handling directly to his previous political activity.
“This seems like a case of political retribution,” Campolo said. “He used to be a very strong Democratic volunteer and a precinct chair before he went to law school.
“We’re glad that the commissioner is safe and nothing bad happened,” Campolo continued, “but they’re throwing the book at this poor kid who has been repeatedly diagnosed with a schizophrenic break. It definitely seems like they’re not treating him fairly.”
Ironically, Lofton’s personal politics apparently turned conservative in recent years. Today, he’s described as much closer to pro-Trump. That may not matter, however, if local officials use the case to make political hay.
Lofton’s mental health reportedly has also changed markedly with access to medication prescribed for his condition.
“He’s talking to me like a normal person again,” Ledet said. “He’s totally making sense. His delusions are gone.”
Next week, Lofton will either go to prison or get out on probation with a chance to regain his mental health, eventually clear his record, and even practice law again. To do that, he and his attorney will have to convince the court he needs treatment rather than incarceration and possibly also that politics does not outweigh justice.
Ledet plans to send Ramirez a letter pleading with him to support treatment instead of jail Lofton, but her concerns extend beyond her child.
“I think mentally ill people in Tarrant County are not getting the help they need,” she said. “My son is a good example of it.”
