The total was staggering:
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Landscaping contracts billed at triple the market rate: $400,000 in profit over four years.
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Enhancement fund money funneled to Gary's company: $61,000.
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Emergency repair levies for maintenance never performed: $38,000.
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Fabricated fines: $22,000.
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Total extraction: approximately $778,000 from 94 families over four years.
That same week, Gary made a mistake that would become Exhibit J in the prosecution's case file.
He was standing at the Stone Creek community entrance talking to a homeowner named Diana Kwan, Lot 73, the retired middle school teacher, and he said something that Diana recorded on her phone—because she'd started recording every interaction with the Voss family after her assessment had been raised twice in one year without explanation.
Gary said, "That farmer's tractor is worth 45 grand. We've got it locked up on the common lot. He's not getting it back until he signs the agreement or sells the property. Either way, we win."
"45 grand. We've got it locked up. He's not getting it back. Either way, we win."
Spoken with the casual confidence of a man who has confused getting away with it so far with getting away with it forever.
Diana Kwan emailed the recording to me that evening. I listened to it once, saved it to the case folder, and called Sheriff Caldwell.
"Tom, I've got the theft on camera. I've got a recorded admission from the suspect, and I've got $778,000 in HOA fraud documented through four years of financial records. When do you want to move? How's Saturday work for you?"
Saturday morning, 8:15, October sun already warm on the limestone, the kind of morning that makes the Hill Country look like a painting before the heat turns it into an argument.