TARRANT COUNTY, TX - A Texas attorney has been accused of trying to buy the unborn children from pregnant women who are incarcerated, with at least two inmates in the Tarrant County Jail allegedly given hundreds of dollars to do so.
According to FOX 4, the attorney, identified as 68-year-old Jody Hall, runs an adoption agency in Texas called Adoptions International, Inc. She is facing charges for what law enforcement officials have called "unethical adoption practices," and is specifically facing two charges on the "sale or purchase of a child."
The Tarrant County Sheriff's Office has accused the woman of "paying money to multiple pregnant Tarrant County inmates for the purpose of placing their unborn children up for adoption with [her] agency." Tarrant County shared a probable cause affidavit that detailed the allegations involving Hall. Those documents state that Hall added $846 to one inmate's account and tried to arrange a connection with the inmate's boyfriend so he could sign papers that would terminate his rights as the child's parent.
Investigators also obtained text messages that were allegedly sent between Hall and an inmate via a jail tablet. Hall wrote, "I've helped a lot of girls like yourself. We have families who cannot have children that would love to adopt your child. You can pick a family and start communicating with them now. We will put $100 weekly on your books, and you can spend part of it on the tablet or whatever you wish to buy."
On another occasion, Hall wrote, "You will have $2,500 when you get out, or if you want me to put some on your books each week, I can do that." In a different situation, investigators said that Hall had transferred $846 to an inmate, who then decided to keep the child.
Hall allegedly wrote, "You're in jail and a drug addict. YOU! Did NOT keep him. You are a scammer and I will be telling the prosecutor in your case. I don't need birth moms that lie to me just to get financial support. And I can't give you anymore if he's not willing to sign the paperwork." Upon further investigation, authorities found deposits from Hall into the inmates' accounts.
The Tarrant County Sheriff's Office said that those payments to inmates were unauthorized, in part because the Tarrant County Jail pays the bill for pregnancy-related and living expenses.
Federal records show that the accreditation for Hall's adoption agency was suspended and then canceled in 2019. The Intercounty Adoption Accreditation and Maintenance entity stated that the cancelation was giving to Hall for "failing to maintain substantial compliance with accreditation standards." The investigation into Hall began back in May.
According to the Dallas Express, the cancelation followed a 2019 investigation by Honolulu Civil Beat into black market adoptions from the Marshall Islands. The "black market babies" investigation reportedly examined alleged illegal adoption practices in the island nation involving several attorneys, one of whom was Hall.
Investigative reporter John Hill said in an interview with KERA, "Now it appears that what Jody Hall was doing at that time was arranging adoptions with Marshallese birth mothers who already lived in Arkansas, which is legal if they're already living in the United States. And people from the Marshall Islands can travel to the United States without a visa, then if they're already living here and become pregnant, they're allowed to give up their children in adoption."
He added, "But what we found was that in some of these cases, the adoptions fells through and the text provided to us by clients of Jody Hall showed that she was talking about flying women from the Marshall Islands for the purposes of having their children in the United States and giving them up for adoption and that violates a treaty between the United States and the Marshall Islands."
She was then arrested at her home in Kyle, Texas, on July 23rd. She was then booked into the Hays County Jail. Hall was released on the same day after posting her $50,000 bond.
According to FOX 4, the attorney, identified as 68-year-old Jody Hall, runs an adoption agency in Texas called Adoptions International, Inc. She is facing charges for what law enforcement officials have called "unethical adoption practices," and is specifically facing two charges on the "sale or purchase of a child."
The Tarrant County Sheriff's Office has accused the woman of "paying money to multiple pregnant Tarrant County inmates for the purpose of placing their unborn children up for adoption with [her] agency." Tarrant County shared a probable cause affidavit that detailed the allegations involving Hall. Those documents state that Hall added $846 to one inmate's account and tried to arrange a connection with the inmate's boyfriend so he could sign papers that would terminate his rights as the child's parent.
Investigators also obtained text messages that were allegedly sent between Hall and an inmate via a jail tablet. Hall wrote, "I've helped a lot of girls like yourself. We have families who cannot have children that would love to adopt your child. You can pick a family and start communicating with them now. We will put $100 weekly on your books, and you can spend part of it on the tablet or whatever you wish to buy."
On another occasion, Hall wrote, "You will have $2,500 when you get out, or if you want me to put some on your books each week, I can do that." In a different situation, investigators said that Hall had transferred $846 to an inmate, who then decided to keep the child.
Hall allegedly wrote, "You're in jail and a drug addict. YOU! Did NOT keep him. You are a scammer and I will be telling the prosecutor in your case. I don't need birth moms that lie to me just to get financial support. And I can't give you anymore if he's not willing to sign the paperwork." Upon further investigation, authorities found deposits from Hall into the inmates' accounts.
The Tarrant County Sheriff's Office said that those payments to inmates were unauthorized, in part because the Tarrant County Jail pays the bill for pregnancy-related and living expenses.
Federal records show that the accreditation for Hall's adoption agency was suspended and then canceled in 2019. The Intercounty Adoption Accreditation and Maintenance entity stated that the cancelation was giving to Hall for "failing to maintain substantial compliance with accreditation standards." The investigation into Hall began back in May.
According to the Dallas Express, the cancelation followed a 2019 investigation by Honolulu Civil Beat into black market adoptions from the Marshall Islands. The "black market babies" investigation reportedly examined alleged illegal adoption practices in the island nation involving several attorneys, one of whom was Hall.
Investigative reporter John Hill said in an interview with KERA, "Now it appears that what Jody Hall was doing at that time was arranging adoptions with Marshallese birth mothers who already lived in Arkansas, which is legal if they're already living in the United States. And people from the Marshall Islands can travel to the United States without a visa, then if they're already living here and become pregnant, they're allowed to give up their children in adoption."
He added, "But what we found was that in some of these cases, the adoptions fells through and the text provided to us by clients of Jody Hall showed that she was talking about flying women from the Marshall Islands for the purposes of having their children in the United States and giving them up for adoption and that violates a treaty between the United States and the Marshall Islands."
She was then arrested at her home in Kyle, Texas, on July 23rd. She was then booked into the Hays County Jail. Hall was released on the same day after posting her $50,000 bond.
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