In a city where “entrepreneurship” usually just means selling herbal supplements on Facebook or opening a car lot with a neon sign held together by prayer, Joshua Weston has managed to set a new bar for Lubbock business ethics. A jury recently decided that Weston, a former manager and 15% stakeholder at Adobe Auto Sales, wasn’t just “balancing the books”—he was treating the company bank account like a personal ATM with a very generous overdraft policy.
The prosecution laid out a paper trail that would make a Enron executive blush. Between 2016 and 2024, Weston allegedly “reimbursed” himself a casual $158,000 for Facebook advertising. Because, as we all know, the best way to handle corporate marketing is to pay for it on your personal Discover card and then cut yourself a check later. It’s not “fraud,” it’s just maximizing your cash-back rewards, right?
But the real comedy set in after Weston resigned. Most people leave a job with a cardboard box and some lingering resentment; Weston allegedly left with $55,106.57 from the company account. His defense team—in a move of pure legal gymnastics—argued this was actually a “civil matter” because he owned 15% of the company. Apparently, in West Texas math, owning a slice of the pie gives you the right to walk off with the whole kitchen after you’ve already quit the restaurant.
To top off this masterclass in professional bridge-burning, Weston was also accused of intentionally destroying a Facebook account valued at over $200,000. It’s the ultimate “if I can’t have it, nobody can” move, usually reserved for toddlers and people who still think Lubbock needs more car washes. The jury wasn’t buying the “oopsie” defense, convicting him of third-degree theft.
Now Weston is facing two to ten years in the big house, where he’ll have plenty of time to explain his “15% ownership” theory to his new roommates.
If “good people make bad decisions,” does that mean stealing fifty grand after you quit is just a very expensive “whoopsie-daisy”?
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