THE CHICKENS COME HOME TO ROOST: LIMAS NOW, WHO'S NEXT?

By Juan Montoya

No wonder he wouldn't sue us.
When we were reporting that former 404th State District Judge Abel C. Limas was being investigated for using his public office to grant favors to politically-connected defendants and attorneys, we wondered why Hizzoner didn't slap us with a defamation lawsuit when every other Tom, Dick and hairless was.
Now we know. Where there's smoke there's fire. We had reported that Limas was trying to cut a deal with federal investigators after his wife deposited a $100,000 check into his bank account following the release of convicted murderer Amit Livingston, who Limas released for a 60-day period to "put his affairs in order" after his first-degree murder conviction and before his imprisonment.
We also said way back when that Abel was being ferried between Laredo and San Antonio and that he was singing like a canary.
For example, we knew that Cameron County District Attorney Armando Villalobos used to be the law partner of Eddie Lucio, Livingston's attorney (not our sucios), who shared in half of the bond forfeiture after Livingston absconded.
The murderer remains at large. Villalobos didn't protest as much as he should have, given the first-degree murder conviction. Any wonder he got turned down for the position of U.S. attorney for the southern district? The federal indictment charges that Limas used the office of district judge and his position to generate money for himself and others associated with him through bribery and extortion, favoritism, improper influence, personal self-enrichment, self-dealing, concealment, and conflict of interest.
The Brownsville Herald reported that four attorneys paid Limas in return for favorable judicial treatment while another person was one of Limas’ associates and served as the middleman between Limas and criminal defendants with cases pending in Limas’ court, who sought on their own initiative or through solicitation and extortion, to receive favorable treatment in their cases.
Now we wonder whether Cameron County District Clerk Aurora De La Garza is involved in this mess since she intervened in her son Joey's indictment on swindling a hospice in Olmito for $100,000s and basically got him off in Limas's court as if nothing had happened.
And let's not forget that Limas was basically placed in the position through the good offices of Democratic Party Chairman Gilberto Hinojosa, who got anything he wanted from the 404th. Now that Aurora, Gilbert and the other three unknowns are squirming under the scrutiny of the feds, our question is: what took them so long? The names that keep coming up in the coffee shop talk are those of Oscar De la Fuente, Jim Solis, etc., and the go-between is one Guillermo Longoria.
And we can't forget that every story has its political consequence. These players are basically the banner carriers of the Democratic Party. How high will the indictment go? There are lawyers with a fix in Limas's court looking over their shoulders.
And what about Tony Martinez, the candidate for the mayorship of the City of Brownsville? Will he continue to embrace the Democratic Party leadership as the story unravels and we begin to learn what shenanigans they were involved in to pervert justice?
See how they run.
(EDITOR'S NOTE: Limas pleaded guilty on Thursday to a racketeering charge involving bribes and extortion).