Blake Bowman, the former executive director of Camp Thurman in Pantego, has put his fate in a judge’s hands, entering an open plea in late February to state charges alleging he misused the camp’s funds. Prosecutors say Bowman faces two felony counts – misapplication of fiduciary property and theft of property – both treated as first-degree offenses when alleged losses clear statutory thresholds. Because the plea was entered without a negotiated deal, a judge will decide his sentence at a later hearing.
What the filings say
Tarrant County prosecutor filings include pages of credit-card and PayPal records that prosecutors say show hundreds of personal charges and transfers tied to Bowman during 2021 and 2022. The documents list transactions from a Capital One card, a JPMorgan Chase account and a PayPal account, and show more than $1 million in activity that prosecutors flagged as evidence. The records were entered into the court file in February and now form the backbone of the state’s case, according to Tarrant County filings.
Indictment and timeline
Bowman was first indicted in April 2024 and arrested after a warrant was issued the following month. Prosecutors re-indicted him in January 2025 as new information surfaced, as reported by Fort Worth Report. Court papers say the alleged misuse covers spending between January 2021 and October 2022. A June filing notes the camp received a small number of repayments from Bowman in 2024 and 2025.
According to reporting, Bowman ran Camp Thurman for about eight years before stepping down and later took classroom jobs in Weatherford and Burleson ISDs. The Texas Education Agency has his educator certification under review, the reporting said.
Camp Thurman and the nonprofit’s footprint
Camp Thurman’s website says it runs year-round programming and serves thousands of children each summer, with the organization listing its contact address in Pantego. Financial filings compiled by ProPublica’s Nonprofit Explorer show the camp reported multimillion-dollar assets in recent years and include entries naming Bowman in executive-level records. Those background records help explain why prosecutors treated the alleged transfers as significant in both value and scope.
What sentencing could mean
Under Texas law, theft and related misapplication of fiduciary property are treated as first-degree felonies when the value of the property reaches $300,000 or more. A conviction on either count carries steep potential penalties. A first-degree felony in Texas is punishable by five to 99 years in prison and a fine of up to $10,000, per the Texas Penal Code, and the specific value thresholds for theft are set out in the code’s theft chapter in the Texas Penal Code…