WITH GALLEGOS JR. CONVENIENTLY SICK, GALLEGOS SR. AND I.E.S. CFO STEP UP TO THE PLATE TO BE ARRAIGNED TODAY

Special to El Rrun-Rrun

The translation for the Spanish verb "fruncir" is to frown, to rumple, to pucker, to get your cheeks together.

Well, Ruben Gallegos Jr., the former CEO of International Educational Services (I.E.S.), charged with conspiracy and theft and scheduled for his arraignment in federal court Wednesday to answer for $17 million in "disallowed" expenditures in federal grant funds, se le frunció – el corazon – and he ended up delaying facing the music before a federal judge in Brownsville.

His attorney Trey Martinez III confirmed Ruben Jr. was receiving treatment for a "cardiac event." 

Gallegos Jr. complained of heart palpitations in the federal lockup in Raymondville and was rushed to a hospital in Edinburg for treat. As a result, his arraignment before Magistrate Ronald G. Morgan will be postponed until he gets medical clearance.

But his co-conspirators – his father, I.E.S. President and  Dr. Ruben Gallegos Jr. and IES C.E. O. Juan J. Gonzalez – will face the music today when they are arraigned before Morgan on similar charges. Those charges are contained in unsealed indictments arising from investigations into the operations of the I.E.S., the company formed in 1985 by Gallegos Sr. to provide shelter and education to unaccompanied migrant minors through massive federal grants.

(As an aside, Gonzalez is married to the sister of Ruben Gallegos Sr., making him his brother-in-law, and uncle (politico) to Ruben Jr.)

In the partially unsealed indictment against Gallegos Jr., two unnamed defendants (named redacted by the government) are alleged to have conspired in a series of meetings between them to pay themselves $100,000s more than the $183,000 in executive compensation allowed then under the federal grants 2014 through 2018  to the tune of $506,003.22 for Sr., $492,001.62 for Jr., and $377,060.96.

Later, they upped the ante a bit, and gave themselves more raises as can be seen in their non-profit reports to the government. However, the Gallegos Jr. indictment does not over this period. In that report they stae that they earned, respectively $677,242 (Sr.), $663,240 (Jr.), and $546,877 (CFO and cuñado and Unc Gonzalez) in salaries and benefits. (See graphic below.)

It was – it would appear – a thoroughly family affair, with Mikeal Gonzalez, Juan Gonzalez's son, also getting his share of the I.E.S. pie. And Gallegos Jr.'s sister – Dr. Linda Gallegos, also getting paid to clear vacant lots which the government said served no purpose to provide services to migrant children.  

As to Dr. Linda Gallegos, principal of the Brownsville Independent School District Veterans Early College Memorial Principal, she is named as  one of the only matters on which Administration for Children and Families "did not make a final determination" on the  "(1) alleged incurrence of “millions” of dollars in charges for procurement without obtaining competitive bids or performing cost or price analyses for purchases, and alleged incurrence of “millions or hundreds of thousands” of dollars awarding independent contractors without demonstrating compliance with procurement regulations; and 

(2) alleged incurrence of unallowable charges related to the leasing of vacant land owned by Ruben Gallegos, Sr., Ph.D., and payment by IES to Dr. Linda Gallegos for clearing vacant property. The Administration of Children and Families (AFC) did not state that it was disallowing any specific amount for those charges. ACF indicated that, although it agreed with Office of the  Inspector General as to those charges, it intended to further review them to determine whether a separate disallowance would be appropriate.

And, no, as far as we know the legal counsel for I.E. S. – then- state representative Eddie Lucio III, son of former Texas Sen Eddie Lucio Jr. – is not named in the indictments, although as legal counsel he should have known better. 

What we do hear is that he was an absentee legal counsel who showed up only to collect his $125,000 annual pay. Some sources close to the investigation say that amount was closer to $400,000. IN then non-profit's report, they have him listed as working 40 hours there, a impossibility for a lawyer and a state representative and potentially a fraud on the government.

In Facebook posts, since deleted, Ruben Jr. pledged his love and devotion to Lucio the III, saying that "other than my wife, you are the first person I call to share good news and the first I call when I need a rock to get me through tough times." 

Both Sen. Lucio Jr. and Eddie III decided they didn't want to run for reelection for another term, a decision that left people scratching their heads.

We wonder why? And will Lucio III step up to then plate and be a "rock" in defending his bosom buddy? For some reason, we really doubt it.