Monday, March 6, 2017

WITH IMMUNITY IN HAND, GARCIA PLAYS SNITCH AGAIN

By Juan Montoya
He did it once before when Cameron County District Attorney Luis V. Saenz had former Pct. 2 Cameron County commissioner Ernie Hernandez indicted by a grand jury.
And now, Cameron County Administrator David Garcia is doing it again, this time snitching on his former boss and benefactor Pete Sepulveda, the former Cameron County Judge.

Image result for david garcia, cameron countyGarcia, who commands a $185,000 salary as county administrator, is at the vortex of the Cameron County District Attorney's prosecution of Sepulveda who is accused of of using county materials and employees to pave a private road in San Benito for former Los Indios employee Anita Weaver.

In a news release issued January 3, District Attorney Luis Saenz said his office received a complaint about the road in March 2016 and opened an investigation. A grand jury returned a sealed indictment on Dec. 21 and charged Sepulveda with abuse of official capacity, misapplication of fiduciary property and theft by a public servant.

And the main witness – armed with immunity against prosecution for his role in the affair – will be Garcia. As county administrator in charge of the Public Works and Transportation departments, he will be the main witness.

Sepulveda’s defense attorney, Noe Garza, initially asked for a continuance and a May trial date for his client. Judge Janet Leal refused his request, but eventually agreed to a pretrial and announcement appearance March 24, with the trial scheduled for April 3.

Image result for pete sepulvedaThis will  not be the first time that Garcia has served as a witness for the prosecution. The last time it was int he trial of former commissioner Ernie Hernandez, who was indicted on two counts of abuse of official capacity, one count of misuse of official information, two counts of witness tampering, one count of tampering with a government record, one count of obstruction or retaliation, one count of coercion by a public officials.

The indictments dealt with the plot by Hernandez to get his brother-in-law Roberto Cadriel a job even though he did not qualify for it.
Eventually, in return for his resignation, Hernandez was granted deferred adjudication and pleaded guilty to one count of coercion by a public official.

During his testimony, Garcia testified that he had a deal with the District Attorney’s Office to avoid prosecution in exchange for his truthful testimony. He told the court that, at Raul Salazar’s urging – the commissioner's administrative assistant – he passed Cadriel’s security guard application along to Bridge Director David Silva.

At the trial, Garcia testified in court that a reorganization of the county's Human Resources office was done at the urging of Hernandez to get even with the staff for leaking information about the scheme and for leaking the information on the plot to the DA's Office.

But what he didn't say was that the reorganization at HR had been in the works for months before and that former HR director Arnold Flores had been trying to get it approved by the county commissioners. In fact, the agenda where it was included had not even been posted when he testified about to to the jury.

It should be interesting to see what kind of testimony the DA can coax out of a too-willing Garcia – the consummate bureaucratic infighter – to try to get a conviction from a jury against Sepulveda. Will he reveal that he knew all along and kept his mouth shut until he saw the writing on the wall and spilled his guts to save his hide? And wasn't he obligated to report this type of alleged wrongdoing in the first place?

Garza is a formidable cross-examiner and he surely won't allow Garcia to tiptoe his way with weasel-worded responses to direct questions. It will be a show that's not to be missed.

15 comments:

Anonymous said...

David Garcia is a fucking little worthless scumbag. This is no surprise to hear this. And who is his attorney, Jonathan Gracia. Another fucking little twirp.

Anonymous said...

Goes around comes around...

Anonymous said...

This is interesting to me. Everyone complains about the way local government is run, particularly in regard to corruption but when someone is called to testify against it they are demeaned. Does this guy even have a choice? I'm betting he is under subpoena. And if he is given immunity he can not even take the 5th., he must testify.
You have to decide if you are for corruption or not.

Anonymous said...

What a cunt he is

cantinflas said...

Juan looks like david garcia had two great teachers in solomon ortiz and lencho rendon, david do you want sepulvedas job over at the ccmpo or what with that nice huge salary of $250k or what? i would too man just say so and your san benito county commissioner will get it done for you why cruicfy sepulveda judas? adios.

Anonymous said...

Ese pinche manitas David Garcia no vale madre!!!! He has no ethics and will turn on whoever he sees fit as long as he gets immunity! But karma is a bitch, and soon the shoe will fall on this piece of shit. He is and will always be a pussy!

Anonymous said...

WEASEL.

Anonymous said...

Nothing but crooks, incompetents and snitchs work in local government. Does anybody still wonder why good and decent people won't run for public office in this part of North Mexico. Nobody want to crawl into the cesspool.

Anonymous said...

North Mexico ?

Anonymous said...

Gracia has his own pending legal issues.Ain't got no time to be defending scumbags like garcia. He's an idiot if he runs again.

Anonymous said...

IS ABOUT TIME TO GET RID OF THIS TWO CLOWNS SEPULVEDA Y DAVID GARCIA !!!!!

Anonymous said...

"Anonymous Anonymous said...
North Mexico ?

March 7, 2017 at 6:28 PM"

Geographical we are in the United States. Cultural, morally, linguistically and many other ways we are a extension of Mexico. It has often been said, the Brownsville is Mexico with better roads and tap water you can drink.

Anonymous said...

Snitch Ass Bitch

Anonymous said...

I wonder how much REAL work is getting done on the South Padre Island second causeway project while Pete is fighting for his life in court? Regardless of how this trial goes down, the real losers in all this could be everybody who enjoys the island. Will the existing causeway last long enough until Pete and CCRMA get a new bridge built? Considering how long it will take to build a new bridge, and the decaying state of the old bridge, we're starting to get into danger of eventually not having a functional bridge to the island at some point in the future until the new bridge is completed.

One of the problems with political corruption is that it interferes with getting important projects done.

Anonymous said...

Why does anyone be surprised about stabbing people in the back? This is a "must" in Brownsville politics and it happens all the time. "You scratch my back and I will stab you in your back!" In this town, instead of the logo being "Always a fiesta," we should have "A knife in everyone's back!"

rita