Former County Commissioner Jose Luis Rosales to plead Guilty on Dec. 8th
By: Jose G. Landa, Eagle Pass Business Journal, Inc., Copyright 2015
Former Maverick County Commissioner of Precinct 3 Jose Luis Rosales and his attorney, Rogelio Martin Munoz of Uvalde, Texas are scheduled to appear before U.S. District Judge Alia Moses for the Western District of Texas, Del Rio Division, in Del Rio, Texas on Tuesday, December 8, 2015, at 10:30 A.M. for a Rearrraignment Hearing where Rosales will be pleading guilty to one or more of the four federal criminal charges alleged in the indictment issued by a federal grand jury in February 2015.
Rosales resigned from his County Commissioner Precinct 3 position on Monday, November 2, 2015 in a letter to County Judge David R. Saucedo, one day before the November 3rd Court hearing before Judge Moses.
Rosales was charged with four counts of accepting a bribe from a contractor or individual awarded a Maverick County public construction contract by a federal grand jury in February 2015 in a bribery corruption case investigated by the Texas Rangers and the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), which snared four of the five Maverick County Commissioners Court members and over 20 contractors in the scheme.
The federal indictment alleges that Rosales manipulated the bidding process to ensure that the contractor or individual whom he wanted awarded the Maverick County public construction contract received it.
The federal indictment further alleges that the contractor or individual whom was awarded the public construction contract inflated the amount of their bid to cover the construction of the project, made a profit, and pay a bribe to Rosales.
Rosales faces up to 10 years in federal prison for each of the four counts charged in the federal indictment together with a fine, restitution, special assessment, and community supervision after completing his sentence.
Rosales will join fellow former Maverick County Commissioners Rudy Heredia, Cesar Flores, and Eliaz Maldonado in pleading guilty to similar bribery and corruption federal charges on December 8th.
Former County Commissioners Heredia, Flores, and Maldonado have already been sentenced to 10 years each in federal prison by Judge Moses. Only Heredia is detained while Flores and Maldonado are awaiting to receive orders from the U.S. Bureau of Prisons as to when and where they are to report to commence serving their 10 year sentences.
In total, over 25 persons were indicted and plead guilty during the course of the largest bribery and corruption scandal in Maverick County, Texas history
