Thursday, February 26, 2015

POLITIQUEROS IN HERNANDEZ HARVESTER MACHINE INDICTED

By Juan Montoya
A Cameron County grand jury has indicted two of the Hernandez vote-harvesting machine most loyal members on five counts of method of returning a marked ballot without the voter's consent.
Jose Angel Garza, also known as "Joey Garza," 37, was arrested last night and is being held on a $20,000 bond.His father-in-law Rafael Angel  Elizondo, 64, was said to be in New York and will be arrested and booked upon his return.
The charges were brought against Garza and Elizondo by prosecutors with the Texas Attorney General's Office.
The AG's Office had not released information on the specifics or voters in the charges but it is speculated that they arose from Garza's involvement in local elections. A press release by the Cameron County District Attorney's Office indicates that the five counts of tampering with a marked ballot against both men were committed on or about July 31, 2012.
During the 2012 runoff election for JP 2-2 between Yolanda Begum and Erin Hernandez Garcia, Garza and Elizondo were identified  as two of the Hernandez's most loyal politiqueros.
The same politiqueros and politiqueras identified with the vote-harvesting machine that delivered the votes to Ernie Hernandez's wife Norma, were identified by Begum in a lawsuit in 2012 for manipulating the mail-in vote of the elderly and mentally impaired. In a couple of cases, illiterate voters were said to have voted by mail.
In that primary, Erin Hernandez Garcia had lost by some 500 votes and ended up winning with less than 200 during the runoff.
In the graphic included here, the voter assistant who hauled in the elderly voters in rented vans for Hernandez is identified as Garza, who also signed his name on countless mail-in ballots. Yet, none of the voters interviewed by investigators recall seeing him or fellow politiquero Ralph Elizondo pick up their ballots at their homes.
Elizondo's name also appears on some of the mail-in ballots.
In an independent investigation conducted by Begum and members of Citizens Against Voter Abuse (CAVA), it was found that a cadre of politiqueros and politqueras under the direction of Norma Hernandez had engaged in blatant acts of voter fraud involving the mail-in ballots and early voting by elderly clients of adult day-care clients. The group turned over their findings to the FBI who later contacted the Texas AG Office.
Begum also filed a lawsuit against Garcia in the 357th District Court and charged that her family and network of politiqueras like Margarita Ozuna, Garza and Elizondo – among others – used numerous illegal tactics to obtain votes in the runoff: discarding or altering mail-in votes intended for Begum; paying personnel at adult day care centers and nursing homes to allow drivers to take vans full of voters, many elderly or mentally disabled, and influencing their votes; taking mail-in ballots from voters; and offering meals and gift cards in exchange for votes.
Ozuna pleaded guilty on her charges involving the mail-in ballots and paid fines and performed community service, including a stipulation that she refrain from taking part in political activity for a year.
Garza has been used by numerous candidates for public office. In the graphic at left Garza is seen with Brownsville Independent School District candidate (and later winner) Cesar Lopez at one of his campaign functions.
During the Erin Hernandez campaign for Justice of the Peace 2-2, Garza's name appears on voter assistant lists showing he was one of the operatives who hauled in the elderly voters from local adult day care centers in vans provided by the Hernandez camp. His name also appears on mail-in ballots collected by other politiqueras. When the elderly voters were asked if they knew who he was, to a person they all said they didn't and couldn't explain why his name was on their ballot envelopes as having collected the ballots.
The DA's press release indicates that the investigation continues, and more indictments could follow.

13 comments:

Anonymous said...

César has a beautiful reputation of receiving "Benefits" from insurance and service contracts. Keep up the good work !

Anonymous said...

This will not end the election fraud and corruption. As long as politicians have money, there will be someone who will lie, cheat, or steal to get that money. The corruption is part of local political culture and is likely to continue. Remember that most local officials are in office as a result of that corruption and none have raised their voice or used thei offices to end I t

Anonymous said...

Sons of bitches should rot in prison. They stole democracy.

Anonymous said...

JOEY the rat......didn't he steal from the hospice and get away with it? Where is Limas to save you now asshole ?

Anonymous said...

Joey de la Garza; spawned by Aurora de la Garza, was the "asshole" who stole the money from the hospice and was allowed to walk by Sheriff Omar Lucio (who refused to arrest him), Armando Villalobos (who took the case to trial without notifying the hospice or other witnesses who might have spoken against "Lil" Joey) and Judge "Disable" Limas who allowed "Lil" Joey to walk and dismissed the felony charge. "Lil" Joey's case is yet another example of corruption among elected officials....all of whom are Dumbokrats. In our culture of corruption, they see this as "Professional Courtesy". Unfortunate for all, especially because "Lil" Joey is out there somewhere and likely to steal again. And, Aurora, his mommy, is out there and she should have been indicted for her role is judicial corruption in Cameron County.

Anonymous said...

they along with the candidates should all be held accountable for their actions... this is wrong..

Anonymous said...

Wrong Joey, stupid!

Anonymous said...

Wrong Joey, but what the hell.

Anonymous said...

No that is joey De LA Garza, Aurora Dela Garza son.. He and that family are rats..

Anonymous said...

I HOPE JOEY RATS EVERYONE OUT... FINALLY JUSTICES WILL SERVE BROWNSVILLE, THE HERNANDEZ WILL GO DOWN...

Anonymous said...

Joey Garza is Cesar Lopez politiquero during the BISD elections, maybe Cesar stole the election with Joey Garza help. Check it out since Cesar Lopez is filling his pockets with school district insurance companies while using millions from the childrens money.

Anonymous said...

Wrong Joey, you numbnut.

Anonymous said...

O.k. got it.....it was cleared up YESTERDAY numbnut.

rita