CORPUS CHRISTI, Tx — The lead investigator in the sex trafficking case against Noraier George Manassian and Amanda Talbert is now himself the subject of a preliminary review, according to a Brady Notice sent Monday by the Texas Attorney General’s Office.
Now, KRIS 6 News has learned that the case’s original tipster, Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) Region Chief Vincent T. Luciano II, is retiring from the agency.
KRIS 6 News previously reported on the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission (TABC) investigator without naming him, following a court order restricting his identification. However, because his name now appears in court filings, KRIS 6 News is identifying him as TABC Agent Scott O’Neal.
The Brady Notice, sent Monday afternoon by Assistant Attorney General Elizabeth Tagle-Mireles, states that TABC’s Office of Inspector General is conducting a preliminary review into O’Neal’s handling of the Manassian case. Hours later, defense attorneys filed two separate motions for discovery, demanding all records related to an internal DPS investigation into the case’s original tipster — Luciano — as well as all documentation of O’Neal’s relationship with Luciano and his knowledge of Luciano’s alleged sexual and financial relationship with co-defendant Talbert.
In a separate development Wednesday, an internal DPS email announced that Luciano is retiring from the agency effective February 28, 2026 — just weeks after his alleged relationship with Talbert became public in court proceedings.
KRIS 6 News has reached out to DPS asking whether the retirement is voluntary and whether it is connected to the allegations surrounding Luciano’s role in this case.
As KRIS 6 News first reported this month, Luciano — a close, personal friend of O’Neal’s for more than 15 years — was the person who originally tipped off O’Neal to the case in March 2021. Defense attorneys say O’Neal then personally requested the case be assigned to him, never disclosed his friendship with Luciano, and concealed for more than four years that Luciano had an alleged sexual and financial relationship with Talbert — one of the very defendants he was investigating.
During a pretrial hearing on February 5, 2026, O’Neal testified under oath that he told the Attorney General’s Office about Luciano’s relationship with Talbert in October 2024, and that the matter was referred to DPS Internal Affairs. DPS previously told KRIS 6 News that an OIG investigation into Luciano was opened in November 2024, found no evidence, and was closed in December 2024, with Luciano remaining on active duty.
However, in their discovery motions filed Monday, defense attorneys say they have never received documentation of that internal referral or its results. They are also raising new questions about the Attorney General’s Office itself — specifically, whether prosecutors knew about Luciano’s relationship with Talbert and failed to disclose it to the defense, a potential violation of Brady v. Maryland and the Michael Morton Act, which require prosecutors to turn over evidence that could benefit the defense.
According to court filings, O’Neal testified that he would never write a report about his friend Luciano, never interviewed him as a witness, and never documented their relationship in any way that could be provided to the defense.
“He admitted he knew about the sexual relationship between Agent Vince Luciano and Amanda Talbert but did not disclose that information in any report given to the defense,” defense attorneys wrote in Monday’s filing.
Manassian faces eight charges including five counts of sexual assault of a child, sex trafficking of a child, online solicitation of a minor, and solicitation of prostitution of a person under 18. Talbert, 46, faces six charges including indecency with a child and four counts of continuous trafficking of persons. Both have pleaded not guilty.
KRIS 6 News has reached out to the Texas Attorney General’s Office, TABC, and the Texas Department of Public Safety for comment and will update this story as new information becomes available.
