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HOUSTON (AP) — A Mexican man who ran a sex trafficking ring in Texas has been sentenced to 40 years in a U.S. prison.
Gerardo Salazar of Mexico City was sentenced Monday in Houston. Salazar in October pleaded guilty to four counts of harboring illegal immigrants for the purpose of prostitution.
Prosecutors say the 51-year-old Salazar led a sex ring linked to Houston-area bars, using girls and women from Mexico who were deceived and threatened into becoming prostitutes. Investigators believe the ring began operating in early 2004.
Salazar, dubbed "the Rooster," was indicted in 2005 in Texas, arrested in 2010 in Mexico and extradited in 2014.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Texas, Houston and San Marcos will share more than $142 million in federal grants for recovery from devastating 2015 storms.
The Department of Housing and Urban Development on Monday cited spring flooding and remnants of Hurricane Patricia, which hit last fall.
A HUD statement Monday said Texas had significantly higher unmet needs than jurisdictions impacted by other eligible disasters last year.
Texas gets nearly $51 million.
Houston will receive nearly $67 million. The area, over Memorial Day weekend, received up to 15 inches of rain. Thousands of homes flooded and three people died. Late-October floods and tornadoes left two people dead.
San Marcos, 30 miles south of Austin, will receive more than $25 million after Memorial Day weekend storms destroyed roads, bridges and homes. More than two dozen people died.
FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) — Fort Worth police say three men face cockfighting-related charges for allegedly operating a betting-on-birds ring in a warehouse.
Animal control officers seized 39 live roosters and some dead birds on Sunday as part of what began as a disturbance call. The Fort Worth Star-Telegram and WFAA-TV report that about 20 people fled from the scene as officers arrived.
A police report says officers also confiscated some cages and sharp devices usually attached to roosters during fights.
Cockfighting is illegal in Texas. Cockfighting offenses in Texas can range from a Class C misdemeanor to a state jail felony.