The question is how far the rabbit hole goes as two more indictments were handed down last week and more looming on the horizon.
"It's pretty sad that a committee can ostracize businesses," stated Judge Moses, "Five people should not control that a company is ostracized."
She showed concern with the range of punishment for several of the fifteen defendants as she cited several times that during this time in Maverick County it was, "business as usual" as she attempted to convey her shame as disdain of the whole ordeal also saying that after reading the 800 pages of information she had to review to prepare to sentence these individuals (which do not include the thousands of pages of evidence and interview material obtained by the FBI), "Quite frankly, Mr. (Bryan) Reeves, after hearing all these cases, nothing surprises me about Maverick County."
On Tuesday, former Maverick County Commissioner of Precinct 1 Eliaz Maldonado was sentenced to ten years in federal prison and was ordered to pay a maximum of $173,128.59 in restitution to Maverick County.
Maldonado admitted that in 2010 and 2011, he manipulated the bidding process to guarantee that contractors he chose would be awarded county construction contracts and instructed contractors to submit inflated bids to the county in order to ensure the availability of sufficient funds to perform the construction work, make a profit and also to pay him bribes.
Former Maverick County Precinct 1 foreman Eduardo Rene Rodriguez was sentenced to eight years in federal prison and ordered to pay a maximum restitution of $26,535.72 to the county. Rodriguez was the liaison between the county and private contractors hired to perform work for the county and accepted bribes totaling approximately $12,000.00 from contractors looking to secure county construction contracts.
Former Maverick County Precinct 1 foreman Jaime Flores was sentenced to six years in federal prison and ordered to pay $32,070.00 in restitution to the county.
Eagle Pass businessman Jose Rodriguez was sentenced to 42 months in federal prison and will pay his restitution alongside Flores. Following sentencing Judge Moses remanded Rodriguez into custody of the United States Marshals Service to begin serving his prison term.
"You are very different than the other folks, Mr. Rodriguez," said Judge Moses after listening to Rodriguez' allocution and hearing that of attorney Jad Harper just before handing down his sentence, "That's not something I have said in any of these cases."
Former Solid Waste Authority general manager and chief executive officer of the Maverick County Landfill Hector Chavez, Jr. was sentenced to five years, five months in federal prison and he was ordered to pay $156,227.29 in restitution to the county.
Javier Gonzalez an Eagle Pass contractor was sentenced to nine years, four months in federal prison. Gonzalez, a former Maverick County juvenile probation officer, was ordered to pay a maximum $156,337.29 in restitution to the county.
Eduardo De La Garza, another local contractor, was also sentenced to nine years and four months in a federal prison and required to pay $264,246.51 in restitution.
Jose Tellez, Jr., owner of 4x4 Construction, was sentenced to ten years in federal prison and ordered to pay $8,628.58 in restitution to the county.
San Antonio businessman German Garcia Cano, the 55 year-old owner of GGC Enterprises failed to appear for his sentencing. A bench warrant has been issued for his arrest.
In October of 2014, Cano pleaded guilty to one count of paying a bribe.
According to court records, Maverick County paid GGC hundreds of dollars between 2009 and 2012 for leasing heavy equipment used in construction projects in Maverick County. Cano admitted to paying bribes to two Maverick County employees to ensure that GGC secured those leasing contracts with Maverick County and to receive his checks from the county.
On Monday, former county commissioner Rodolfo Heredia was sentenced to ten years in federal prison and ordered to pay a maximum of $567,003.88 in restitution to Maverick County after admitting to accepting a bribe, manipulating the bidding process, ordered contractors to submit inflated bids to ensure the availability of sufficient funds to perform the construction work, make a profit and also be paid bribes.
Alejandra Garcia, a 28 year-old former Maverick County employee whose duty was to issue Maverick County checks to private contractors, was sentenced to nine years, one month in federal prison and was ordered to pay a maximum of $382,254.29 in restitution to Maverick County. Garcia pleaded guilty to receiving numerous cash payments of $200 to $500 in bribes from contractors and commissioners in return for her issuing thousands of dollars in Maverick County checks to contractors before funds were approved for issuance by the Maverick County auditor's office.
Marcelo Alvarez, a local contractor, was sentenced to nine years, four months in federal prison and ordered to pay a maximum of $1,022,303.94 in restitution to Maverick County.
Maverick County paid in excess of $800,000.00 to Amistad Consulting, a company to which Alvarez was connected, to perform engineering, project management and consulting services for the county.
Alvarez, designated by Amistad Consulting as the Resident Project Representative, received payment for his services of approximately $300,000 between 2010 and 2012.
Salvador Castillón, owner of South Texas Concrete based in Eagle Pass, was sentenced to seven years, three months in a federal prison and was ordered to pay a maximum of $175,804.71 in restitution to Maverick County.
According to court records, Castillón was awarded Maverick County construction contracts totaling $416,800.00 in 2010 and $148,000.00 in 2011. Castillón admitted that during that time period, he paid then Maverick County Precinct 2 commissioner Rodolfo Bainet Heredia approximately $57,000.00 in return for being awarded the construction contracts.
Saul Lombraña, owner and operator of Fiesta Contractors based in Eagle Pass, was sentenced to two years, nine months in a federal prison, the lightest sentence handed down over the course of these two days, and ordered him to pay $14,500.00 in restitution to the county.
In connection with this investigation, Hipolito Amaya, Jose Aguilar and David Gelacio have previously received sentences of 41 months incarceration, 14 months incarceration and 12 months incarceration respectively.
Former Maverick County commissioner Cesar Flores was scheduled for sentencing on Wednesday afternoon. On Monday, Judge Moses remanded him into federal custody while postponing his sentencing.
On September 5, 2013, Flores pleaded guilty to one count of receiving a bribe and admitted that he agreed to be influenced and rewarded for using his position to ensure that certain contractors were awarded construction contracts.
"It's a sad day for these elected officials. Good, honest people voted for them to help change things that were bad in this county. They were in positions with a great deal of power and could have been inspirations for thousands of people and positive role models, but this investigation is very tragic, a travesty. They're all corrupt," emphasized Reeves, Assistant United States Attorney who Alongside Michael Galdo and Katie Griffin prosecuted this case on behalf of the Government, "It started at the top all the way to the bottom and allowed commissioners to function as feudal lords in a system that was in direct conflict with those governed by TxDoT. This scheme created a culture of corruption that was there for years."
Reeves said that instead of someone coming forward and alerting authorities that this was happening regularly in Maverick County, he said that everyone involved, instead of stepping back and letting it happen, jumped right in and the people of Maverick County suffered and continue to do so in the wake of what Reeves said was the irresponsible wasting of $22 million in grants allocated over this two year period and leaving only .52 by March of 2012.
"People were denied contracts, people lost jobs and salaries were slashed and that falls at the feet of the commissioners. Where did these $22 million dollars go? If you look at the infrastructure in Maverick County and if we compare this to the shanty-like conditions of the streets and residential areas, the sheer cost to the taxpayer is staggering. They first chose to enrich themselves, issuing checks without authority."
"The most astonishing thing is that people in Maverick County are raised to be good people until the system brings you in, added Judge Moses, "You were making a lot of money at the time and there was no contrition, just ambition. The sad part is everybody's contrite because they are standing before this court. Part of this contrition is that you got caught. If not it would still be business as usual."
Therefore the saga continues as two more indictments were handed down last week in regards to this investigation as former Justice of the Peace Cesar Iracheta and County Commissioner Jose Luis Rosales both await their next date in court. Judge Moses said that it was her intent to group all of these sentencings together in order to send a message to the citizens of Maverick County and to those who govern there,"We've articulated numerous scenarios of waste," concluded Reeves, "Concrete rates were astronomical. The price of concrete went from $3.50 a square foot to $6.00 a square foot to at one point $96.00 a square foot. It was a sham and for the taxpayers of Maverick County to have to put up with this is a shame, shame, shame. It's perplexing."