Valin Posted February 8, 2016 Share Posted February 8, 2016 Washington Post: Sarah Kaplan February 8 2016 Joel Barajas was the only Crystal City council member to show up at the office Friday. That’s because everyone else he works with is facing felony charges. Five top officials in the Texas city were arrested Thursday under a federal indictment accusing them of taking tens of thousands of dollars in bribes and helping the operator of an illegal gambling operation who went by the nickname “Mr. T.” The indictment swept up the city’s mayor, mayor pro tempore (who both have city council votes) and a council member, as well as the city manager, a former city council member and the alleged gambling operator, Ngoc Tri Nguyen. None of the men has commented about the charges or filed any pleas in response to the indictment. (Snip) According to the indictment, those in the town leadership who were charged “used their official positions to enrich themselves by soliciting and accepting payments and other things of value” from Nguyen and others. The document accuses the officials of voting to award contracts in exchange for bribes, extorting payments from contractors, turning a blind eye to Nguyen’s illegal gaming business while taking action to shut down would-be competitors, and agreeing to reduce Nguyen’s taxes in exchange for him waiving debts, among other dealings. (Snip) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Draggingtree Posted March 26, 2016 Share Posted March 26, 2016 Indictment Aside, Crystal City Mayor is Running Againby Jim Malewitz March 26, 2016 CRYSTAL CITY — Leaning forward on a two-seat swing beneath a shady tree, Ricardo Lopez ticked off his lofty political ambitions: First, win his re-election bid for mayor in this South Texas town. Next, swiftly resign to prepare for an all-out sprint for Texas lieutenant governor. After that, maybe focus on something more grandiose. Why? “There’s a need for it, sir,” answered the Democrat, who just minutes earlier had shaved, slicked back his hair and put on a charcoal suit accented with a pocket square. “I don’t want to run because I want a higher position. I want to run because I can help. There’s corruption all over. There’s thousands of towns like this in America.” http://www.texastribune.org/2016/03/26/resigned-and-indicted-crystal-city-mayor-running-a/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Valin Posted March 27, 2016 Author Share Posted March 27, 2016 Indictment Aside, Crystal City Mayor is Running Again by Jim Malewitz March 26, 2016 CRYSTAL CITY — Leaning forward on a two-seat swing beneath a shady tree, Ricardo Lopez ticked off his lofty political ambitions: First, win his re-election bid for mayor in this South Texas town. Next, swiftly resign to prepare for an all-out sprint for Texas lieutenant governor. After that, maybe focus on something more grandiose. Why? “There’s a need for it, sir,” answered the Democrat, who just minutes earlier had shaved, slicked back his hair and put on a charcoal suit accented with a pocket square. “I don’t want to run because I want a higher position. I want to run because I can help. There’s corruption all over. http://www.texastribune.org/2016/03/26/resigned-and-indicted-crystal-city-mayor-running-a/ Indicted mayor of Texas town handcuffed amid meeting ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ OTOH Given the almost complete ignorance of the voters today...This just might work! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Draggingtree Posted June 10, 2016 Share Posted June 10, 2016 How a Tiny Texas Town Took Down its City Council (Audio) by Ike Sriskandarajah / June 10, 2016 Crystal City is a quaint South Texas town of about 7,500 people. Its most famous resident is a cartoon sailor with a corncob pipe, one good eye and a fearsome right hook. Popeye is the official mascot of Crystal City, the self-proclaimed “spinach capital of the world.” And earlier this year, the life-size Popeye statue in front of City Hall had a front-row seat to a citywide purge. In February, scores of FBI agents stormed the tiny City Hall and arrested most of the city’s leaders in connection with a bribery and kickback scheme. Listen to the story from Reveal. https://soundcloud.com/thisisreveal https://www.texastribune.org/2016/06/10/how-tiny-texas-town-took-down-its-city-council/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Draggingtree Posted July 29, 2016 Share Posted July 29, 2016 Two more plead in Crystal City corruption case By John MacCormack July 28, 2016 Updated: July 29, 2016 9:42am Former city council members Roel and Rogelio Mata became the latest Crystal City defendants to plead guilty to federal charges stemming from a three-year investigation of public corruption. http://www.expressnews.com/news/local/article/Two-more-plead-in-Crystal-City-corruption-case-8527224.ph 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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