The Average Citizen does not know about the destroyed County References for Agenda items (Context)
When a few abuse their offices ... citizens justifiably wonder then who can they trust in the rest of government, ? Dec. 16, 2006, 11:23AM
Bribe culture seeps into South Texas
19 convicted as Mexican style of corruption moves north of the border
By JAMES PINKERTON
Copyright 2006 Houston Chronicle
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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
Bribe culture seeps into South Texas
19 convicted as Mexican style of corruption moves north of the border
By JAMES PINKERTON
Copyright 2006 Houston Chronicle
TOOLS
Subscribe NOW
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
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