Aiding and abetting is a serious crime in Texas and there are many forms of this crime. This can make it confusing for people who might not believe that they are committing a crime when engaging with the other people in their lives.
Generally speaking, anyone who is found to have helped in the commission of a crime is guilty of aiding and abetting. In Texas, there are many forms of conduct that a person can engage in that qualify as aiding and abetting. Such conduct can include driving someone to or from where they have committed a crime, helping to hide a person who is wanted by law enforcement, and providing money or other forms of aid to someone hiding from the law.
In Texas, penalties for this type of crime range from misdemeanors to felonies. By helping a person to escape justice, one could be charged with committing the same criminal act, although this is not necessarily guaranteed. Certainly, fines into the thousands of dollars and incarceration are on the table for anyone convicted of this crime.
If an accused person is able to convince law enforcement authorities that he or she didn't know that they were involved in a crime, charges could be dropped under certain conditions. Sometimes criminal defense lawyer can get the charges dropped due to lack of evidence or witnesses. Other defenses against aiding and abetting charges are possible after a full investigation is completed.
Anybody can be charged with aiding and abetting in Texas, from Fairview to Waxahachie, to El Paso, just as long as law enforcement is convinced that a law has been broken. What might be confusing to a person who doesn't think that they are doing anything criminal is often much clearer to law enforcement. Moving forward with the actual facts is often always the safest and best way forward.