Former Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo general counsel Jeffrey Downing pleaded guilty to online solicitation of a minor, accepting five years of deferred adjudication and a 10-year sex offender registration requirement.

Arrested in May 2024 after communicating on Kik with an undercover investigator who posed as a 15-year-old, Downing - who described himself as "a cowboy lawyer" - exchanged explicit messages and photos and offered gifts.

The third-degree felony carried potential prison time, but prosecutors waived a jury trial and the judge imposed the sentence.