ROGUE DEPUTIES, POLITICAL INTRIGUE AT SHERIFF'S DEPT.

By Juan Montoya

It's enough to give a department head gray hairs.

Facing serious political challenges from two candidates in the March Democratic primary, Cameron County Sheriff Omar Lucio is having to deal with serious staff issues at precisely the time when he doesn't need the grief.

This year has been a bad year for Lucio when it comes to deputies behaving badly.

And with former Cameron County District Clerk Eric Garza waging a worrisome campaign against him and former San Benito Police Chief Michael Galvan jumping into the fray, his opponents are sure to make political hay every chance they get.

And waiting for the Democratic winner in the primaries, Republican John Chambers is waiting to take him on in November.

In fact, the campaign against the Lucio administration style of management has already started.

We have seen leaflets out in the hustings pointing out some of these issues:

1. On December 6, 2019, of this year, Chief Deputy Gus Reyna called a news conference on behalf of Lucio to inform the public that deputy Victor Francisco Moctezuma had been charged with Official Oppression and Theft, both misdemeanor offenses. Allegedly, Moctezuma had requested the services of a masseuse. During the encounter the Deputy is accused of displaying his Cameron County badge and gun and forcibly raping and taking money from the victim. These charges remain pending against Moctezuma.

2. This came after a November 1, 2019, press release by the department that informed the public that a deputy named Joshua Guajardo had been arrested for Tampering with a Governmental document, a state jail felony. Guajardo was accused of falsifying information by reducing a criminal charge of Driving While Intoxicated to a Public Intoxication charge against a criminal defendant. The criminal charge against Guajardo also remains pending.

Moctezuma is not out of hot water. Still in the air to be to be decided is why the victim’s accusation of felony rape was not included in the charges. Many question why the victim’s statement of facts warranted misdemeanor charges of Official Oppression and Theft were included, but the felony offense of Sexual Assault was not brought forward. Moctezuma remains free on bond. Lucio's assertions that no one is above the law makes some wonder whether law enforcement – including Cameron County District Attorney Luis V. Saenz – are looking after their own? 

Currently, the department is seeking applications for a sergeant position as a result of the demotion of former Sergeant Daniel Valerio to deputy. Valerio was reprimanded in July of 2019 for falsifying time sheets, which was not his first reprimand at the department, and subsequently he accepted the demotion.

In other agencies, the position of sergeant may be one of many, but in the sheriff's department, with Lucio in charge of some 300 employees, that position becomes crucial to set an example for other staff employee and deputies that inevitably impact the safety and service to the public.

If there was ever a time for greater scrutiny of applicants at the Sheriff’s Department, it is now. Having two deputies arrested for both misdemeanor and felony offenses in a matter of months should give anyone pause at the department to assure the promotion of the best candidate for sergeant. 

One of the top candidates for the position is raising some red flags because of the political implications involved in his potential promotion. Current Cameron County Sheriff Investigator Rodrigo Javier Almanza is said to be a leading contender for the position.

Almanza is said to have had some scrapes during his military service and even if Lucio has a preference for hiring veterans, people wonder whether he is the best qualified applicant to serve in a leading capacity in his administration. 

 Almanza also has strong family connections to previous administrations in Matamoros politics. The current mayor of Matamoros, associated with the winning Morena party of Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, has chosen to cut ties with his family that had a virtual monopoly in a slice of the pie selling medicine to the City of Matamoros. Their concession of the Cruz Verde and its continued siphoning of those funds through their pharmacies has fed a growing controversy with the change in administration.

But more troubling are reports that he may have been linked to a defamatory article that was posted on some of his relatives' online publications accusing candidate Garza of being linked to the border underworld. This type of political intrigue is part and parcel of Matamoros politics.

We received the anonymous missive and its very beginning made us pause and hold the post. 

"Everything indicates that (Garza) is being financed by a cell of organized crime dedicated to money laundering...because not only does he receive money from (we won't print the name) but also has held public events in one of his restaurants at no cost."

The article then goes on to state that the U.S. Dept. of Homeland Security is conducting an investigation, something the DHS has never confirmed. Still, in the rough-and-tumble world of Matamoros "journalism," defamation and libel are the daily fare. 

As further "proof" that Garza was linked to former Cameron County Sheriff Conrado Cantu and his drug associates, the article points to a photo Garza took with Cameron County Justice of the Peace Juan Mendoza, formerly Cantu's Chief Deputy.

The article says Mendoza has attended some of Garza's events. That's it.

We know Mendoza, and of all the Cantu administration officials, he was the only one not indicted or charged with any crime. He was elected and re-elected for JP by that precinct's voters.

As we said before, the sheriff hardly needs these kind of headaches that would drive a younger man nuts. We can only imagine what kind of new troubles loom for him in the near horizon.