Posted on 12/17/2006 4:35:47 PM PST by SwinneySwitch
19 convicted as Mexican style of corruption moves north of the border
BROWNSVILLE — The bribe has long been a shortcut to wealth and power along the Texas-Mexico border. But these days, it's not just politicians lining their pockets or crooked lawmen taking bags of cash to overlook drug loads.
The culture of bribery is quietly seeping into new realms of government, from school districts to municipal court, experts say.
Proximity to Mexico is at least partly to blame, said Anthony Knopp, a professor who teaches border history at the University of Texas at Brownsville.
"What we're dealing with is a Third World country on the other side of the border where there is a culture of corruption ... corruption will show up here, naturally."
And show up, it has.
Since March 2004, 19 public officials including former Cameron County Sheriff Conrado Cantu, a city manager, several county commissioners, a school superintendent and several school trustees have been convicted of taking kickbacks and bribes.
Some pocketed wads of cash. Others accepted new tires for their cars or extensive remodeling jobs on their homes and businesses. Some even partied with prostitutes. In return, some allegedly awarded lucrative contracts to build or furnish new schools and public buildings. Or they looked the other way as traffickers hauled drugs across the border.
"Bribery is happening down here," said Israel Pacheco, a veteran Texas Ranger in McAllen. "To say it's not happening is to bury your head in the sand."
The way things are done
The bribery culture has existed in Mexico for centuries. There, the bribe is known as la mordida — "the bite." Paying mordidas is often the most efficient — or the only — way of getting things done in Mexico.
Federal officials in the Rio Grande Valley say they began seeing rising numbers of bribery cases several years ago, and formed a task force to target corruption and graft.
Bribery "undermines public confidence in government," said Don DeGabrielle, the U.S. attorney for the federal district that stretches from Houston to Laredo and south to Brownsville.
"When a few abuse their offices ... citizens justifiably wonder then who can they trust in the rest of government," said DeGabrielle, a former FBI agent.
He said the federal task force has led to a number of important arrests and hopes that continued prosecutions will discourage others from taking or offering bribes and kickbacks.
But for some, the temptation is too great.
A Brownsville municipal court clerk was recently sentenced to probation for fixing traffic tickets, undeterred by hundreds of police officers around her at the police station. For a "fee," a city code inspector and a permit clerk allegedly let six used-car lot owners operate in Brownsville without passing building inspections.
The culture of bribery "has filtered down to where it's not just law enforcement," a veteran U.S. agent said on condition of anonymity.
Bribery of lawmen remains a problem, he added.
"We're seeing it a lot more ... and it isn't always cash," he said. "It could be bottles of liquor, it could be a car. Sometimes it's hunting trips."
He said the motivation is always the same — greed.
"It's the money," the agent said. "As long as I've been doing this job."
Alleged entrapment
Some in the Valley blame federal authorities.
The government "creates crime" by using "unsavory" informants to entrap otherwise honest people, said Al Alvarez, a McAllen lawyer who has defended a number of public officials.
As the Valley grows and receives larger shares of state and federal funding, more and more locals get involved in government and some don't know the law, Alvarez said.
"People here don't have the experience in management ... mistakes are made, and some are criminal," Alvarez said.
Bribery cases often end in scenes like one in a Brownsville federal courthouse Nov. 10, when Israel Tamez, a tearful ex-county commissioner, stood before a federal judge.
"I know I did wrong, and I have to pay for it," said Tamez, a resident of Willacy County, one of the state's poorest.
U.S. District Judge Andrew Hanen sentenced Tamez to six months in jail for taking a $10,000 bribe to award a $14.5 million jail contract.
The fallout from another federal investigation was even more tragic in the case of Ed Aparicio, 46, a popular state judge who killed himself last April on the day he announced his resignation. Although the judge was never charged with a crime, FBI agents had searched his home and courthouse chambers, carting off paintings and other potential evidence in a reported bribery investigation.
TV stations in the Valley routinely feature tales of public officials being caught allegedly pocketing bribes in exchange for a range of illegal favors.
In one case last year, the FBI arrested a trustee for the Pharr-San Juan-Alamo Independent School District and a masonry contractor, accusing them of bribery and extortion.
The McAllen Monitor, applauded the move.
"What's most disturbing isn't the way the two are accused of operating," the paper said in an editorial. "It's that officials at nearly every other school district and municipal government in the Valley conduct business in a similar manner."
In another case, the Cameron County district attorney is investigating how the Brownsville Navigation District spent $21.4 million in taxpayer money during a decade-long, futile effort to build a rail bridge to Mexico.
A private attorney hired by the district concluded $10.5 million was paid to subcontractors in Mexico who did little or no work, including a firm with close ties to Mexican officials.
Elections involved
Bribery has also crept into Valley elections, said Othal Brand Jr., who ran his father's unsuccessful campaign for mayor last year in McAllen.
A political worker offered him "400 votes for $10 apiece, or $4,000," he said.
"It short-circuits the system," Brand said of bribery. "It speeds the process up and cuts red tape. It saves time or money, but without any conscience about the morality, the right or wrong."
Some worry that even more public officials could be compromised as vast amounts of drug money flow across the Texas border.
Laredo police frequently stop cars for speeding as they head through town on their way to Mexico, finding "massive amounts of cash," said Jerry Thompson, a history professor at Texas A&M International University. "One had $400,000 in a bag in the back seat. He didn't even have it in the trunk.
"What scares me is that this drug corruption is going to corrupt the judicial system."
Undeterred, U.S. officials say they're continuing their fight against bribery in the Valley.
"It's not over," said DeGabrielle, the top U.S. prosecutor in Houston. "We are still actively engaged in investigating corruption. ... We haven't washed our hands and declared victory."
james.pinkerton@chron.com
Anyone who couldn't see this coming must have been just smart enough to campaign for open borders.
Just the tip of the iceberg folks.
Pathetic and disgusting and so ........ Mexican. Thank you George Bush!!
BTW there are thousands of immigration laws George Bush could enforce right now. But refuses too
Charming.
SNORT.
Snort, indeed. That sleazy defense attorney has got an excuse for anything his clients may do.
As the Valley grows and receives larger shares of state and federal funding, more and more locals get involved in government and some don't know the law, Alvarez said.
"People here don't have the experience in management ... mistakes are made, and some are criminal," Alvarez said.
The story itself is troubling, but did you notice the story is written in simple "one-sentence" paragraphs" .....
Shows the level of reading most people in the valley are now getting - if they speak English at all.
If we're talking the South (of the US) the bribe culture has always been pretty active down here. I'd say it really only began to change about 30 years ago, with the professionalization of various police and judicial agencies. Of course, it just moved up the line, to people like the esteemed Jefferson, he of the big bucks in the freezer...
Recruiters Caught in Drug Probe
Sigh.
I guess the "bribe culture" is also seeping into Arizona.
From your link:
So far, 69 members of the military, prison guards, law enforcement employees and other public employees have been convicted of accepting bribes to help smuggle cocaine.
Seeps? What amateurs. [Chicago native]
The bribe culture has been in Texas forever. I'm familiar with San Antonio's culture.
There are political street operatives who round up Mexican-American votes for cash. The traditional payment for a vote went from $1.00 in the 1930s-40s to $5.00 by the mid 80s. Don't live there anymore so don't have the market price.
Several city councilmen were recently convicted for being among a long line of politicians in Bexar county who took cash for votes.
Some judges were for sale. I had a young friend who had a drug bust for an ounce of speed--a serious felony offense and he was looking at 10-20 years. I took him to a Dem poltician/lawyer. He came out shaking his head, "I don't understand it," he said. "He told me that if I paid him $1500 this week (while judge so and so was presiding judge), he'd guarantee me immediate Deferred Adjudication, but if I couldn't pay it until next week, it'd only be $500 down, but he couldn't guarantee anything and I might go to jail." I laughed and explained what the lawyer was telling him. Do you smell a $1,000 rat?
Another judge was famous in attorney circles for ruling in favor of attractive ladies in contested divorces over money if they visited him privately in his chambers for sex. The lawyers arranged the trysts.
The corruption went so far that one night as I was standing next to a county judge at a noisy crowded singles bar, I heard him tell a man who claimed to be newly arrived in town who to call to score some cocaine.
Many City and county employees have routinely accepted bribes for various services they do for people.
Viva Mordida! It keeps the wheels of government and justice moving.
Europe has a HUGE problem with corruption and not just in the easter ends of the EU. Socialist salaries are a nightmarish low, cash bribes are the only way to make the ends meet.
And in europe, those are the good jobs.
Thank the Lord that LBJ left the planet before the news of these Texas Scandals hit the news. Imagine that. Corruption in Texas! Just so hard to believe.
What's next? Vote fraud in the Mexican illegal alien community?
It's a little like the Soviet Union. You have socializm where nobody makes any money, so the only way to make ends meet is under the table.
They demand it.
Texas HAs A Whorehouse In IT!!!!!
Bookmarked as another side effect of illegal immigration that people are turning a blind eye to.
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