3/10/2023 0 Comments The witness trophy guideCuellar paid John Cuellar back by putting him on the payroll. Quintanilla knows people, then they have a right to earn money,” Carlos Garcia said. They never attempted to hide the arrangement. Cuellar, who paid taxes on the income, Carlos Garcia said. would be his eyes and ears, his boots on the ground.” and Leo had an agreement,” Carlos Garcia said. Lopez, who had connections throughout Texas, became a business consultant. Cuellar, said his client did nothing wrong. Cuellar and Quintanilla pleaded not guilty.Īttorney Carlos A. Garcia, but they dropped the case without explanation in December 2021.Ī.C. Prosecutors also brought charges against former Rio Grande City school board Trustee Daniel J. And another commissioner, David Fox, pleaded guilty to perjury. John Cuellar pleaded guilty to a conspiracy charge. “They wanted to get their cut of this big project,” Gullotta said. In exchange, John Cuellar and Tafolla steered engineering contracts to CDM and Briones, which subcontracted work to LeFevre. Quintanilla, meanwhile, cashed his checks and split the money with Weslaco City Commissioner Gerardo “Jerry” Tafolla. Cuellar, through a concrete business called Quality Ready Mix. Cuellar paid about $405,000 to his cousin, Weslaco City Commissioner John F. “They were the middlemen between Leo and the commissioners,” Gullotta said.Ī.C. Cuellar and nearly $86,000 to Quintanilla. Department of Justice Public Integrity Section.ĬDM, Briones and LeFevre paid about $4.1 million to Lopez, who passed along nearly $1.4 million to A.C. “Leo Lopez was the mastermind of this bribery scheme,” said William J. Prosecutors brought charges against seven people, including former Starr County power broker Leonel J. Cuellar and Quintanilla is part of a federal investigation called “Tarnished Water,” which focused on corruption at Weslaco City Hall. Armando “Mando” Martinez, Weslaco Mayor David Suarez and members of the Weslaco City Commission. The trial, which started on Tuesday morning, is expected to take about two weeks. Walker recounted the conversation on Tuesday, when she took the witness stand in a federal bribery case against former Hidalgo County Commissioner Arturo “A.C.” Cuellar Jr., 68, of Progreso Lakes and businessman Ricardo “Rick” Quintanilla, 55, of Weslaco. LeFevre couldn’t be reached for comment on Tuesday afternoon. “He said: ‘Elizabeth, you have to know this water treatment plant is a beached whale,’” Walker said. LeFevre wanted his money too.ĭuring the conversation, though, LeFevre made a strange comment. Weslaco had paid millions to Briones and Boston-based construction company CDM. The engineer - Richard LeFevre - said San Antonio-based Briones Consulting & Engineering hadn’t paid him for work on the Weslaco water treatment plant. In December 2014, an engineer called Interim Weslaco City Manager Elizabeth Walker.
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