BREAKING NEWS! Former Eagle Pass City Manager Hector Chavez, Sr. Pleads Guilty to Making A False Statement to An FBI Agent 

By: Miguel Munoz, Eagle Pass Business Journal, Inc., Copyright 2017

Former City of Eagle Pass, Texas City Manager Hector Chavez, Sr. plead guilty to Count Four of a four count indictment pursuant to a Plea Agreement with the United States Attorney’s Office on Thursday, March 30, 2017, before United States District Judge Alia Moses for the Western District of Texas, Del Rio Division, in Del Rio, Texas.

Chavez was indicted on April 15, 2016 by a federal grand jury in Del Rio, Texas, charging him with four counts, including paying a bribe of approximately $20,000 to a Maverick County Commissioner for allegedly intending to influence the Commissioner to secure a contract for a Maverick County landfill project during May 2012 through June 2012; forging a personal services contract to conceal from authorities the alleged kick-back paid to the Maverick County Commissioner; provided this falsified personal services contract in response to a federal grand jury subpoena in order to obstruct justice; and making false statements to a Special Agent of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) concerning the legitimacy of this personal services contract.

Chavez resigned as City Manager of Eagle Pass, Texas in writing by letter dated April 15, 2016, after being arrested on the federal grand jury indictment.

The City of Eagle Pass, Texas accepted Chavez’s resignation as City Manager and appointed former City Manager and Eagle Pass Water Works System General Manager Roberto Gonzalez as Interim City Manager at an April 25, 2016 Special City Council Meeting.

Chavez faces up to five years in federal prison for making a false statement to an FBI Agent in an investigation, a fine up to $250,000, Community Supervision up to three years, and a Special Assessment of $100.

Chavez has been detained since his arrest in April 2016 as he was denied to be released on bond by the federal court.

Chavez is scheduled to be sentenced on August 30, 2017 by U.S. District Judge Alia Moses.

Chavez is represented by attorney Edgar Juarez of Eagle Pass, Texas after terminating his first attorney and representing himself pro se for several months before recently hiring Juarez.

At sentencing, U. S. District Judge Alia Moses will determine whether to accept the Plea Agreement entered between Chavez and the United States Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Texas, how much time Chavez will have to serve in federal prison for the criminal offense plead to,  the amount of a fine not to exceed $250,000, the length of Community Supervision, and a Special Assessment fee of $100. In the event Judge Moses does not accept Chavez’s Plea Agreement, Chavez may withdraw his plea and request a jury trial.

Chavez’s criminal case was part of an FBI and Texas Rangers investigation of corruption and “pay-to-play” bribery scheme regarding public construction contracts in Maverick County, Texas. This joint investigation to date has resulted in more than 30 individuals being criminally indicted and pleaded guilty, including four Maverick County Commissioners, a Maverick County Justice of the Peace, a Maverick County Assistant County Auditor, a Maverick County Juvenile Probation Officer, and other public employees and private individuals.