A SORDID LITTLE TALE OF CADRIEL-HERNANDEZ INTRIGUE

By Juan Montoya
When we heard that Roberto Cadriel, brother of Norma Hernandez, wife of Pct. 2 commissioner Ernie Hernandez, was going to testify for the state in the trial of Ernie's assistant Raul G. Salazar, it piqued our curiosity, to say the least.
We were even more intrigued when we sat in the courtroom and he testified that Norma had filled out his application for a position with the county since he could nether read nor write due to a learning disability he ascribed to a near-drowning accident he suffered as a child at Boca Chica Beach.
Surprise turned to astonishment, then revulsion as he told the jury that his sister and brother-in-law Ernie allowed him to sleep in his truck in the parking lot of the Hernandez family business, Fiesta Graphics.
The sordid tale continued as he told the court of how Hernandez and Salazar facilitated his application for a dog catcher, and later how Salazar intervened so he could apply for a security guard position by having someone take the Civil Service exam after he failed it twice, and then providing him the answers to a written security guard examination.
When Norma realized that the gig was up and that the media had sniffed out the fraud, she urged him to resign and someone (perhaps the international bridge director or a secretary) conveniently typed out a resignation letter and he put his name on it (he knows how to sign his name to cash checks and the like, he said).
We later learned from other sources that Cadriel had another beef with his brother-in-law and his siblings Norma and Joe Cadriel Jr.
Apparently, Cadriel was listed on their father's will prepared in May 8, 2000 as being none of five beneficiaries. The will was prepared for the senior Joe Cadriel by local attorney Chester Gonzalez and witnessed by his law-firm partner then Luis Saenz, now the Cameron County District Attorney.
Cadriel Sr. was a housing contractor who passed on the family business to Joe Jr.
But he not only listed his children among the beneficiaries. Upon the death of his wife Gloria, Cadriel took up with (and married) Maria Alicia Alonzo, the Brownsville woman who served as a nanny for the Cadriel children (Norma, Joe Jr., Carlos – since deceased – and Roberto). In fact, Alonso also kept house for Ernie and Norma Hernandez and their kids.
"I give devise, and bequeath all my household furniture and furnishings, automobile, personal effects, works of art, jewelry, and other tangible articles of personal nature not otherwise specifically disposed by this will...to Carlos, Jose Cadriel Jr., Norma Linda Cadriel Hernandez, Roberto Cadriel, and Maria Luisa Alonzo in equal shares," his will reads.
"I give in fee simple to (all the above) in equal shares, all the property that I own.
"I give the residue of my estate, be it real or personal, to (all the above) in equal shares."
Cardiel Sr. appointed Jose Jr. as the independent executor of the will and Carlos as an alternate if Jose Jr. was unable or unwilling to act in that capacity.
"I direct that no action be taken in any court in the administration of my estate other than the probating and recording of this will and the return of an inventory, appraisement and list of claims of my estate," the will reads.
And, as a safeguard, Cadriel Sr. also stipulated that: "If any person, either directly or indirectly, attempts to oppose or set aside the probate of this will or to impair or invalidate any of the provisions of the will, nay devise or other provision I have made to or for that person under this will is revoked."
People close to Roberto Cadriel say that up to today, he has never received any of the fifth (now fourth) equal share that Cadriel Sr. had alloted him in his will. And relatives of his widow – Maria Alonzo Lozano – say she has never received her part of the Cadriel Sr. estate either.
In fact, after Cadriel Sr.'s death, the house where she lived was found not to be in his name and it was seized as part of the estate. A title search indicates that the house passed through different hands – including Roberto Cadriel's name – before it ended up listed  as being owned by Ernie Hernandez. Among the people coming to inspect the house and property was Erin Garcia-Hernandez, daughter of Norma and Ernie Hernandez. Cadriel Jr. was said to have seized the contractor tools left in the property by his father.
We now understand that the widow and Roberto Cadriel are seeking legal assistance to try to recover their share of the estate left them by Cadriel Sr. So far, there have been few takers among the members of the local bar. However, they say that they will not rest until they get their rightful share under the will.
As far as both know, they have never been informed of any court hearing or probate where the estate's goods have been distributed to the beneficiaries, they say. Both say that neither of them have ever agreed to sign off on any distribution.
"I have never signed anything in regards to the estate," said Alonzo. "If anyone says I have, they are not telling the truth."