Edgar Aguilar, Rene Castillo, and Elizabeth Vivian plead guilty in City of Eagle Pass gasoline card fraud case

By: Jose G. Landa©

Co-Defendants Edgar Aguilar, Rene Castillo, and Elizabeth Vivian in the City of Eagle Pass gasoline credit card fraud
case plead guilty to conspiracy to use unauthorized access devices in separate hearings today, Thursday, November 29, 2012, before United States District Judge Alia Moses of the Western District of Texas, Del Rio Division, in Del Rio, Texas.

Aguilar, Castillo, and Vivian face up to five years of imprisonment, a $250,000 fine, supervised release up to three years, a $100 special assessment, and restitution up to $70,000 to the City of Eagle Pass.

There are two additional co-defendants in the case, Armando Ojeda Nuncio and Ricardo Hernandez Espinoza, who have not plead and their case remains pending for either trial or plea in the future before U.S. District Judge Alia Moses in Del Rio.

Defendant Edgar Aguilar was a City of Eagle Pass Public Works Department employee and took and used five fuel man gasoline cards to purchase fuel for non-City private vehicles. Aguilar and his co-conspirators used the five City of Eagle Pass fuel man cards to fuel private vehicles at an aggregate cost to the City of Eagle Pass of approximately $70,000 in United States currency.

Aguilar used the City of Eagle Pass fuel man gasoline cards together with his co-conspirators to fuel private vehicles and charging them a discounted rate for the fuel such as one-half of the total cost of fuel and receiving payment in cash from private individuals, keeping the cash payments for Aguilar’s personal use.

The case is still under investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the City of Eagle Pass Police Department. There is a possibility that more persons may be charged in the conspiracy.