Ex-County Judge Dolores Briones facing minor penalty in corruption case [El Paso Times, Texas]
By Marty Schladen, El Paso Times, Texas | |
McClatchy-Tribune Information Services |
Both said they are baffled at how Briones is being treated by prosecutors and the federal judge who has heard a majority of the public corruption cases in
Federal law enforcement authorities did not respond last week when asked whether Briones is getting special treatment because her brother,
Montalvo.
Five years is the same maximum sentence faced by a co-conspirator,
One would expect that
Public-corruption cases are usually built to go after the highest elected officials involved, Henning said.
"Normally, that's the person who gets the heaviest charge," he said.
A public appeal written late last month by a friend, former
The letter implies a detailed knowledge of
"It does seem to indicate she's getting probation," said
Until 2009, Cramer was senior litigation counsel in the
Cramer stipulated that he didn't know all the circumstances surrounding prosecutors' decisions about whether to charge
He said it would be unusual if Briones gets probation. Typically, public officials convicted on corruption charges get probation only only in cases of serious illness or some similar problem, Cramer said.
Flores' letter blames
Being a cancer survivor would usually not be a reason to sentence a federal defendant to probation instead of prison time, Cramer said.
Henning said the nature of
"An elected official taking a bribe -- that's as serious as it gets in a public-corruption case," he said. "Normally, the expectation would be some prison sentence."
He also noted that the money
"This was not money just to build a warehouse -- and that speaks to jail time," Cramer said. "There should be some type of message sent to the politicians. The message here seems to be you're going to walk home, people are going to raise money for your restitution and find you a consulting job."
In the other case,
That case involved steering more than
Assistant U.S. Attorney
She said
Kanof made the statement as she read a factual basis for former Commissioner
Referring to the former county judge as an "unindicted co-conspirator," Kanof said Briones appointed Medina to the Commissioners Court at the end of 2005 "as part of Briones' illegal support of Access."
Former Access spokesman
"
The indictment in the Access scheme says "C-1" was "an elected member of the
"The tickets were a bribe and kickback for C-1's assistance in placing an item on Commissioners Court agenda to extend the Access contract with the county and for C-1's vote in favor of the Access extension," the indictment says.
The court document also says Schwartz paid for
"On or about late February of 2006, Access, through defendant
In court last month, Kanof said Schwartz made phone calls from
Cramer said it was strange that prosecutors so clearly identified Briones as a participant in the Access scheme without charging her.
"Usually, if you're not going to move against somebody, you don't name them," he said.
Stranger still was that prosecutors claimed to have evidence that Briones took bribes from Access, but didn't charge her, Cramer said.
"Based on my experience, that's odd," he said.
Commissioner
"It was pretty obvious early on that she was chummy with Access and so was Medina," Haggerty said.
Kanof identified Jones as the man giving the order to initiate the Access scheme.
Jones was sentenced to 10 years in prison and ordered to pay
In 2000, when Jones appointed
Apodaca pleaded guilty last month to a racketeering charge.
He admitted that he directed Access officials to offer bribes to public officials in exchange for taxpayer business from
Robles declined to describe the relationship between
"It would be inappropriate for me to comment," Robles said.
On Commissioners Court,
"Medina's nose would have broken if Briones sat down too quickly," Haggerty said.
In spite of an apparently lesser role in the conspiracy than Briones, Medina faces up to 20 years in prison when he's sentenced
Similarly, Schwartz agreed to serve eight years in prison for bribing elected officials to vote for Access contracts.
Cramer, the former federal prosecutor who worked in
"It cuts to the heart of the system," he said. "If their votes are for sale, there needs to be prison time."
As with many hearings and documents in the public-corruption scandal, Briones was allowed to plead guilty in secret in December to her role in the Border Children's Mental Health Collaborative scandal.
The remaining defendant to be tried in the case,
Henning, the white-collar crime expert, said he didn't understand why the transcript would be sealed this late in the case. He said such secrecy might only contribute to suspicions that
___
(c)2012 El Paso Times (El Paso, Texas)
Visit the El Paso Times (El Paso, Texas) at www.elpasotimes.com
Distributed by MCT Information Services
Wordcount: | 1722 |
Advisor News
Annuity News
Health/Employee Benefits News
Life Insurance News