Four Eagle Passans plead guilty to federal charges

By: Jose G. Landa
Eagle Pass Business Journal©

Four Eagle Passans pleaded guilty to federal charges yesterday, Thursday, January 24, 2013, before United States District Judge Alia Moses of the Western District of Texas in the Del Rio Division in Del Rio, Texas.

Alejandra Garcia, Eduardo Rene Rodriguez, Jaime Flores, and David Gelacio plead guilty to various federal criminal charges stemming from a Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and Texas Department of Public Safety investigation of corruption and fraud by Maverick County public officials and employees, contractors, and individuals.

Alejandra Garcia, a former employee of the Maverick County Auditor’s Office, Eduardo Rene Rodriguez, a former employee of Maverick County Commissioner of Precinct 1 Eliaz Maldonado, and Jaime Flores, also a former employee of County Commissioner Eliaz Maldonado and brother of indicted County Commissioner Cesar Flores of Precinct 4, plead guilty to corruption and fraud charges.

Alejandra Garcia plead guilty to one count of receiving a bribe. She admitted to taking a bribe between $200-$500 to authorizing the issuance of checks to construction contractors who had submitted inflated bids.

Jaime Flores plead guilty to one count of theft while Eduardo Rene Rodriguez plead guilty to one count of bribery. Both Flores and Rodriguez were foremen for also indicted County Commissioner Eliaz Maldonado.

David Gelacio plead guilty to one count of money laundering of $13,000 from the sale of Maverick County Commissioner of Precinct 2 Rudy Heredia’s Ford F-250 King Ranch 4 x 4 pick-up truck to a member of the Zetas drug cartel. County Commissioner Rudy Heredia is also indicted on this case.

The investigation of public corruption and fraud in Maverick County by the FBI and Texas Rangers continues.

Assistant United States Attorney Michael Galdo of the Western District of Texas in Del Rio, Texas is the prosecutor in all of these cases.