INTERNECINE BLOODLETTING WILL MARK HERNANDEZ TRIAL

By Juan Montoya
If what Norma Hernandez was overheard telling her brother Roberto Cadriel in the hallways after he had testified in the Raul Salazar trial is any indication of things to come, courtroom observers can expect to see a real bloodletting when her husband Pct. Commissioner Ernie Hernandez comes to trial.
Witnesses heard Norma tell her feeble-minded brother that as far as she was concerned he was no longer a part of the family and virtually disowned him right then and there.
Cadriel had just testified that Ernie had told him to go to his precinct office at the Dancy Building and talk to Salazar about applying for a job with the county. Cadriel also told the court and the jury that Norma had filled out his application since he can neither read nor write.
 Cadriel was desperate to find a job because he needed to procure decent shelter. Up to the time that he had asked his sister in getting a job and she had told him to look for one at the HEB or at the Brownsville Independent School District, he had been allowed to sleep in his truck at the Hernandez Family business parking lot (Fiesta Graphics).
Ernie Hernandez, when told that his brother-in-law had resigned his position as a non-commissioned security guard with the International Bridge Department with the county, feigned ignorance and told the local daily that he had learned about his siring and subsequent resignation by reading about it on the online edition of the newspaper.
Of course, no one believed him.
And the reason no one believed him is because numerous people who testified during the Salazar trial said that Ernie had contacted them to ask about the progress of the Cadriel application.
"I got a call from the commissioner to come to his office," former Human Resources director Robert Lopez told Asst. DA Gustavo Garza on the stand. "He said he wanted Mr. Cadriel to get hired."
Upon prodding by Garza on which commissioner called him, Lopez said he meant Commissioner Ernie Hernandez.
Two days later, Lopez said Salazar showed up with Cadriel in tow to have him apply for a position as an animal control officer.
When a controversy erupted in the HR office over the fact that an employee – Carmen Vera – had taken the test the third time and passed with an 86 after Cadriel had failed with a 30 and 34 score respectively, Lopez said he had taken the test materials – written an incident report to his immediate superior county administrator Pete Sepulveda, and locked them in his files.
Up until today, the whereabouts of the test materials and files remains a mystery.
Lopez said he had not taken, destroyed or shredded the materials and that once he resigned from his position following the discovery of the bogus hiring of the commissioner's brother-in-law, he had not idea what happened to the documentation.
"After I left, I turned in all my keys and files to the county," Lopez said.
Lopez said that after the animal control job fell through for Cadriel, about 12 days later Salazar inquired about a position with the county's international bridge system for a non-commissioned security guard. Later it was revealed that Salazar handed the answer sheet for that test to Cadriel and that instead of missing seven questions as he had been instructed, he forgot and missed only the last three.
Other officials – including the director of the Veterans Memorial Brige – nsaid that Hernandez would call them to inquire about Cadriel's application and urged him to hurry the process.
"He said he wanted to move in along," the witness said.
Hernandez was indicted for his role in the illegal hiring on eight counts. The indictment includes two counts of official oppression, 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, and one count of coercion by a public official. He is seeking reelection as commissioner in tomorrow's Democratic Primary election.
Cadriel has another bone to pick with his brother-in-law.
We later learned from other sources that Cadriel had another beef with his brother-in-law and his siblings Norma Hernandez and Joe Cadriel Jr.
Apparently, Roberto 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 allotted 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."
Expect this family's dirty little secrets to come out during the trial.