DID YOU MAKE THE SHORT LIST?

By Juan Montoya
It's not exactly the list that every college with a B-ball team wants to make, but in Cameron County, local attorneys and judges are trying desperately to stay off it.
The rumors are swirling at the county courthouse that there is a list of 16 local barristers and judges that on whom the feds flying down from Houston almost on a daily basis are concentrating.
These 16, or so the talk goes, are the ones that the feds are interested in talking to in an alleged far-reaching probe of corruption in the local judiciary.
At the top of the list is former judge Abel Limas, who reportedly has been flown to Houston for in-depth talk with the G-men. The rumor mill indicates that the feds are mighty interested in finding out about a purported $100,000 deposit made by the judge's wife into his personal account.
"Limas wants to keep his wife out of it and is talking to the feds," said a courthouse insider. "He wants to make sure she doesn't get involved in this mess."
Others say that the sudden decision of former Judge Danny Robles is somehow related to the probe as well. Many watchers were perplexed when Robles, without a credible challenger, decided he would not run for another term and cited personal reasons for his decision.
Still another name that surfaces in the rumor maelstrom is that of Austin attorney Eddie Lucio (not related to our Eddies). Why Lucio's name would surface is the source of much speculation. Lucio was a former partner of Cameron County District Attorney Armando Villalobos. He was also the attorney for the family of the teacher killed by convicted murderer-on-the-run Amet Livingston. If you remember, Livingston's family had deposited a $1 million cash bond. When Limas granted Livingston a 60-day period for him to "get his affairs in order" following his conviction and then went on the lam, that bond was split evenly between the victim's family and his defense attorneys, including Lucio.
And, of course, Villalobos had a say into Limas' decision to give the killer a two-month head start.
"He could have objected and dreamed up some other charge to keep him in the clink," said a rumor-mill participant. "Or he could have raised a stink in the local press or called the feds himself. That case stunk to high heaven all the way around."
Does that work into the evaluation of the feds' interest into the Cameron County judiciary?
Even a Limas assistant, not an attorney, is looking over his shoulder, sources say.
Then we have the case of former judge Robert Garza, a straight-arrow jurist if one ever knew one. The rumors suggest that Garza was the recipient of services for a disabled child from people who appeared before his court. As one can plainly see, the rumor mill is working overtime on this one.
There is even mention of an attorney from San Antonio named Rosenthal who rumors indicate is also mixed up in this matter.
"He would be the money man," said a local watcher.
Does that mean that attorneys far and wide knew there was business to be done locally?
Virtually the entire Cameron County Bar is wondering whether they are on the list and the hunt is one for any inkling of who's there. Is Ernesto Gamez, a local shaker and mover and heavy political campaign contributor in the local judiciary, on the list?
How about you? Are you on the list?