Murder suspect factors in cases [The Brownsville Herald, Texas]

Dec. 18--BROWNSVILLE -- A man accused of murder, who obtained information on his case from a suspect tied to former 404th state District Judge Abel C. Limas, had ready access to the data, the public record reflects.

Jaime Munivez, who served as an investigator for Cameron County District Attorney Armando R. Villalobos from 2005 through May 2011, received a bicycle in exchange for providing material information to murder suspect Jose Alfredo "Pepe" Villarreal, 55, from the case file, according to the record. This is gleaned from Munivez's plea agreement with the U.S. Attorney's Office. Munivez pleaded guilty Tuesday to two counts of extortion.

Villarreal played a pivotal role in the federal charges against Munivez and Limas' alleged former middleman Jose Manuel "Meme" Longoria, who pleaded guilty in November, also to extortion.

Meanwhile, a state grand jury in June this year indicted Villarreal on a murder charge -- again.

This is the third time that Villarreal has been indicted by a state grand jury in the Jan. 26, 2007, slaying of Fidel Gonzalez, who died in a hail of gunfire while in a pickup in front of a supermarket on Minnesota Avenue.

Villalobos said Friday that he would meet with The Brownsville Herald about the case in the coming week.

Villarreal's attorney, Oscar de la Fuente Jr., did not respond to The Herald's request for comment.

State District Court records on Pepe Villarreal cases

District Court records on Villarreal show that he was arrested in connection with Gonzalez's slaying Feb. 15, 2007, and that he was released on March 29, 2007, to the U.S. Border Patrol.

A $400,000 surety bond had been set on him, which was posted by International Fidelity Insurance doing business as Ro-Que Bail Bonds.

A grand jury indicted Villarreal in Gonzalez's slaying Dec. 12, 2007. A $400,000 bond was set Jan. 7, 2008.

Judge Ben Euresti, of the 107th state District Court, transferred the case to 357th state District Judge Leonel Alejandro, who set Villarreal's arraignment for Jan. 30, 2008. Villarreal didn't make an appearance and the court was advised that Villarreal was in federal custody.

However, within days, the court learned on Feb. 7, 2008, that Villarreal was not in federal custody and the court on Feb. 13, 2008, declared that bail had been forfeited for Villarreal's failure to appear. A capias, or arrest warrant, was issued for Villareal.

On March 19, 2008, Villarreal's attorney, De La Fuente, and the bond company appeared in court and said that Villarreal was not able to cross from Mexico because of the arrest warrant.

The court recalled the arrest warrant.

The DA's Office then motioned to dismiss the murder case against Villarreal because he had been re-indicted on a murder charge.

The state District Court records show that Villarreal had been re-indicted Feb. 13, 2008. Villarreal's arraignment was set for May 28, 2008.

On April 17, 2008, Ro-Que Bail Bonds filed an affidavit to surrender Villarreal and asked that a warrant be issued for his arrest, noting that Villarreal had failed to pay a renewal fee on the new $400,000 bond issued March 19, 2008.

Alejandro did not accept the surrender, saying that there had been no new bond issued or ordered by the court on March 19, 2008, as stated on the bond surrender.

The case continued to be reset for several months. It was reset to Sept. 24, 2008, but De La Fuente did not appear. And, although the state District Court record reflects that a notice had been mailed to all parties by certified mail, De La Fuente maintained that he had not received notice.

Alejandro ruled that the state should recover the $400,000 bond. The state on Oct. 31, 2008, moved to dismiss the proceeding, indicating that Villarreal had been re-arraigned that date.

However, the court record does not reflect a rearraignment.

A few years later, the murder indictment against Villarreal was dismissed at the request of the DA's Office on March 22, 2011, "pending further investigation."

State District Court records show that yet another state grand jury indicted Villarreal on murder on June 8 this year. A warrant was issued for his arrest. The record reflects a bond forfeiture. The case was noted as "inactive" on July 31.

The plea agreement

According to the plea agreement that Munivez signed with the U.S. Attorney's Office, Villarreal was indicted and re-indicted in 2007 and 2008. A $400,000 bond was set for Villarreal and questions arose in January and February of 2008 about his non-appearance, according to the record.

"Villarreal was residing in Mexico for some period of time," the agreement states.

Intercepted telephone calls in early 2008 showed that Longoria assisted in having Munivez provide information from the murder file to Villarreal in return for the bicycle, according to the record.

"Munivez traveled into Mexico to meet Villarreal; Longoria used this occasion to demonstrate to Villarreal that Longoria had someone working on the 'inside' in the DA's Office. Intercepted calls revealed Longoria and Munivez met with Villarreal in Matamoros, Mexico," the agreement states.

"On Jan. 9, 2008, Longoria called Munivez. Longoria instructed Munivez to 'erase it' because they were going to give him some good bonds," the agreement states. It further notes that during the time, the murder case was pending and the $400,000 cash/surety bond had been set on Jan. 7, 2008

The plea agreement states that in the morning of Jan. 23, 2008, Longoria called Munivez who said he was on the third floor. Limas' court was located on the third floor, the agreement states.

"Longoria asked if Limas was there. He also urged Munivez to 'get the order' that would be in Longoria's name because, as he said, 'it's already paid for.' Munivez said he would go in a little while," the agreement states.

The plea agreement further states that on Feb. 19, 2008, Longoria called Munivez who asked Longoria if Person G already knew that Villarreal had been indicted again. The plea agreement states that Longoria said that this would be a "little job to get gas money," referring to another occasion to make some money.

Munivez agreed.

Before joining the DA's Office when Villalobos took office in January 2005, Munivez was Limas' bailiff from 2000 to 2004.

De La Fuente, at one time, employed Longoria.

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