JURY CONVICTS CHAMBERS' ACCUSER ON TWO FELONIES

By Juan Montoya

Call it a case of poetic justice.
Remember when the Cameron County District Attorney's Office used Indian Lake Asst. Police Chief Alfredo Avalos to turn state's evidence against his boss Police Chief John Chambers and he ended up being named interim chief of the village? 

Chambers, in a race for the 2016 Republican nomination for Cameron County Sheriff who actually won his party's primary nomination – was removed from the ballot and Victor Cortez, his opponent who came in second for the GOP nomination – replaced him.

Cortez was head of the D.A.'s Office Cameron County District Attorney's Office Public Integrity Unit (PIU), which just happened to be in in charge of investigating the case. He enlisted Avalos' help to get Chambers indicted by a grand jury. 

It would be Avalos's testimony, which he provided Chambers' political opponent with full immunity from the D.A. 's office,  that resulted in Chambers getting 14 misdemeanor convictions of entering the wrong information in the Indian Lakes reserve officers' firearm certification documents. 

Chambers appealed his conviction and showed evidence during his defense that each reserve police officer had, in fact, passed the firearms qualification practical pistol course that calendar year, although the calendar date and weapon serial number were not properly identified.

Chambers then ran again against Democrat Eric Garza, who won the 2020 general election.

Avalos stood to benefit from Chamber's ousting as Police Chief because, as the only other peace officer in the Indian Lakes PD, he would become the Police Chief by default. He actually did become the interim Police Chief for a short time.

After leaving the Indian Lakes P.D. Avalos landed a job in 2019 with the Bishop Police Department where he was hired on as a  lieutenant. But not much later, on October, 2019, a grand jury charged him with two counts of  Misuse of Official Information, both third degree felonies.

The information presented by D.A. investigators indicated that Avalos had twice – on October 20 – with intent to obtain a benefit and harm and defraud another, intentionally and knowingly, used the Law Enforcement Telecommunications System (TLETS) to get information on two cars parked in the house where his ex-wife lived with her male partner. Other information indicated that he also inquired about the immigration status of the man's mother. 

Today, after a one-week trial, a jury deliberated for  a short time, and returned with a verdict of guilty on both counts. Defense attorneys Ed and Sara Stapleton asked for the jury to be polled and declared the verdict unanimous.

Ed Stapleton requested 404th District Judge Ricardo Adobbati to render punishment and to excuse the jury. Ass. D.A. Stephanie Franke appeared on behalf of the state and made her recommendations as did Stapleton. 

After careful consideration, Adobbati sentenced Avalos to three (3) years in the Texas Dpartmen of Corrections probated for four (4) years, to pay probation fees, maintain gainful employment, pay court costs within 90 days, a $1000 fine and a crime stoppers fee of $50 to be paid every month for the first 2 years of probation. Avalos also has to meet all standard conditions of probation.

When Avalos was named interim chief of the Indian Lake P.D. , he told the San Benito News that "Ability is nothing without opportunity.”

“I plan on using this opportunity to restore core values to the Town of Indian Lake Police Department,” said Avalos. “Once our trust is broken, our actions are rightfully called into question. Police officers around the country must hold themselves to the highest standards. We should always be guided by our integrity, pride and our community.”

Karma, it has been said, is a bitch.