MARCHAN SINGING FOR HIS SUPPER, WILL HE GET BREAK(FAST)?

By Juan Montoya

It ain't the fat lady that you hear when you pass by the federal courthouse in Brownsville.
Insiders say that in view of his seven-count racketeering and bribing conviction related to the Abel Limas judicial corruption investigation, the virtuoso voice you may hear singing is that of Port Isabel attorney Ray Marchan.
Marchan, who fought the federal government's charges that he paid Limas kickbacks and bribes for appointments to lucrative cases, is the first defendant in the federal slate who fought the prosecution aggressively, but now – facing a long time in prison – is moving quickly to make points (literally) with the federal government.

During Marchan's trial, tantalizing glimpses into the scope of the government's judicial corruption probe were given the public when the names of a handful of Cameron County judges and prosecutors, including DA Armando Villalobos, came up in testimony and cross-examination by the defense. Federal Judge Andrew Hanen limited the questioning of the witnesses when they strayed away from the case before them against Marchan.
However, while on the stand, Limas did implicate some prominent jurists.
Already, his testimony is known to include several district judges who he said committed unspeakable "crooked" and unethical acts. Limas, in his attempt to save his skin, his wife's, and his son's freedom, has spilled his guts to the federal government.
Those judges – 138th District Judge Arturo C. Nelson, 444th District Judge David Sanchez, 357th District Judge Leonel Alejandro and 404th District Judge Elia Cornejo-Lopez – can only guess what's contained in the dossier folders waved by federal prosecutors before the jury that convicted Marchan, except that Limas claims the allegations contained therein are true.
Already, Nelson has disputed Limas' version of the events leading to his name being linked to the alleged corruption and a former Asst. DA (Doug Pettit) also claims he was unaware that he was being drafted to be part of a Limas-Marchan scheme to generate ad litem fees for him and Marchan. Whether other evidence linking Nelson ad Pettit to the probe is in the hands of the feds is not known.
And now that Marchan can almost hear the clanging of the prison cell doors behind him on the way out of the Rio Grande Valley, whose head will he seek to deliver to the government is anyone's guess.