INDICTED ELIZONDO STILL RECEIVES AWARD; COMPANY LINKED TO FORMER FIRE CHIEF NEARLY $500,000 IN NEW CONTRACTS

By Juan Montoya
To observers of the Brownsville Independent School District, the sight of board member Carlos Elizondo receiving the Outstanding Firefighter Award the Brownsville events Center in a ceremony staged by the district seemed preposterous.

The award was handed to the former fire chief May 24 during the ceremony awarding 25 Firefighter-Emergency Medical Technicians credentials in a pinning ceremony.

Here was Elizondo, who was placed on indefinite suspension by the city of Brownsville and is now facing indictments for theft Theft by a Public Servant and Misapplication of Fiduciary Property, and two more counts of two counts of computer security breach — Class B misdemeanors — and that the incidents occurred Sept. 7, 2017.

On October 23 of that same year Elizondo's Brownsville home was raided by Cameron County District Attorney Investigators. On the same day, Elizondo turned himself into authorities when the warrants were issued for Theft by a Public Servant and Misapplication of Fiduciary Property.

The Brownsville Fire Fighters Association accused Elizondo, who was solely responsible for the account, of misusing money and leaving dollars unaccounted for.

On April, the two original indictments were upgraded and handed down by a grand jury charging him with third-degree felony theft because at the time of the crime the owner of the property appropriated was a nonprofit organization.

The crime rises to a higher level if the defendant was a public servant at the time of the offense and the property appropriated came into the actor's custody, possession, or control by virtue of his status as a public servant and he was in a contractual relationship with government at the time of the offense. Elizondo was a firefighter and acted as treasurer for the firefighters' PAC.

Authorities arrested Elizondo in  October on accusations that he stole $8,000 from the Brownsville Firefighters Association Political Action Committee through unauthorized ATM withdrawals, according to a police report. The formal name of the PAC is Brownsville Firefighters For Responsible Government.

The other new indictment of misapplication of fiduciary property or property of financial institutions bases the higher offense– a felony of the third degree – because the value of the property misapplied is $30,000 or more but less than $150,000.

Elizondo is set to go to trial later this summer.

All the charges are predated by a city commission audit report last released October that questions the use of private ambulance transfer ambulance services provider Intercity Ambulance Service with links to Elizondo and its owner Justin Oakerson. The audit report indicated that Elizondo and former Asst. Fire Chief Ernie Estrada personally routed intercity hospital transfers to IAS to the detriment of the city's EMS. The city audit determined that some 78 calls were rerouted costing the city some $62,000.

After his suspension as fire chief, Elizondo continues to serve as a BISD trustee and is credited along with Oakerson with setting up the Emergency Medical Service (EMS) Basic Certification and Basic Fire Suppression Certification curricula for the BISD through a company called the International Academy of Emergency Medical Technology (IAEMT).

That company – with Oakerson as its m,ain instructor – was awarded the instruction contract for the EMT and firefighter certification courses.

At tonight's meeting of the BISD board of trustees, the administration is recommending that IAEMT be awarded contracts extending through June 2019 for EMT anf firefighter instruction amounting to $478,660. The agenda items read:

1. Recommend approval to continue training with the International Academy of Emergency Medical Technology (IAEMT) to perform Emergency Medical Service (EMS) Basic Certification training curricula for students in the Brownsville Independent School District beginning August 2018 and ending June 2019 in the amount of $148,660.00 per year. Services will be rendered based on the needs and services of the District.

2. Recommend approval to continue training with the International Academy of Emergency Medical Technology (IAEMT) to perform Basic Fire Suppression Certification training for students enrolled in the Fire Fighter Program of Study beginning August 2018 and ending June 2019 in the amount not to exceed $330,000.00. Services will be rendered based on the needs and services to the District.