The Washington Post
Two political operatives close to Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-Tex.) agreed to plead guilty this year and cooperate with the Justice Department’s bribery case against the lawmaker, according to newly unsealed court documents.
The records show that Colin Strother and Florencio “Lencho” Rendon struck the plea agreements in
March, admitting to their roles in an alleged bribery scheme in which they funneled more than $200,000 to the congressman and his wife, Imelda Cuellar, on behalf of a Mexican bank. Strother and Rendon were each charged with conspiracy to commit money laundering.
The records show that Colin Strother and Florencio “Lencho” Rendon struck the plea agreements in
The Cuellars were indicted last week on charges that they accepted $600,000 in bribes from the bank and an oil company controlled by the Azerbaijan government. They have denied wrongdoing.
Strother is Cuellar’s former campaign manager and chief of staff, while Rendon is a San Antonio businessman whom court records describe as a “close associate” of Cuellar. Rendon also is the former chief of staff for former Democratic congressman Solomon Ortiz.
Asked Thursday about the plea agreements, Cuellar lawyer Chris Flood said they were “not worried about the truth.”
The plea agreements say Henry Cuellar and Rendon devised the scheme in 2015 after hearing from the bank that it was having trouble doing business in the United States. They drew up a “sham consulting contract” with the bank, and Rendon would funnel most of the proceeds to Cuellar’s wife, according to the plea.
Strother became involved because Rendon did not think it would be a good idea for him to pay Imelda Cuellar directly, the plea deal said. Instead, Cuellar and Rendon recruited Strother to “participate in a project to test and certify a fuel additive made by a Mexican company … so that it could be sold in the United States.” Rendon told Strother he would pay him $11,000 monthly, $10,000 of which would go to Imelda Cuellar, the plea deals said.
From March 2016 to December 2017, Rendon made monthly payments to Strother totaling $242,000, according to the plea agreements, which say Strother in turn sent nearly $215,000 to Cuellar’s wife.
Strother eventually realized that the fuel project was a “sham” and that the “true purpose” of the payments was to funnel money to Henry Cuellar so that he would not have to disclose it on his annual financial disclosures, a plea agreement said.
A federal judge ordered the plea agreements to be unsealed Wednesday.
Rendon faces up to 20 years in prison, while Strother faces up to five years.
Strother’s lawyer did not respond to a request for comment. A lawyer for Rendon said he was not immediately available to respond to a request for comment.
“I want to be clear that both my wife and I are innocent of these allegations,” Cuellar said in a statement ahead of his indictment last week. “Everything I have done in Congress has been to serve the people of South Texas.”
Cuellar also reiterated that he is running for reelection. Two Republicans, Jay Furman and Lazaro Garza Jr., are in a May 28 primary runoff to determine who will face Cuellar in November. Cuellar’s seat in Texas’s 28th Congressional District has become more competitive for the GOP in recent years, though he defeated his 2022 Republican opponent by double digits.
11 comments:
MEXICANS and MEXICAN-AMERICANS are one in the SAME; THEY CANNOT BE TRUSTED!
So I guess Cuellar is the one on fire now.
Sing 🐦 sing 🎶 🎵 🎶 we all want to hear your song.
China Chente is next !
This is the product that the United States gets for allowing foreign countries ancestral heirs to run for United State governmental positions. Mexico has never had a gringo run for a Mex. govt. position much less a lawmaker. Next question," Is the United States going to elect an Azerbaijan ancestral heir to run for president"? Puro pinche Mojado Wanna-Be's. Cuellar deserves to get what he dealt with a quid pro quo deal. He was using us the citizens of South Texas to vote for him while he was doing a favor for a favor deals with foreign countries of Azerbaijan and Mexico, while he and his wife were getting rich. He and his wife deserve whatever prison time, but not in the hotel type prisons that his prestigious title protects criminals abusing their positions, but in the real pica cola prison as a favor for a favor payback from the South Texas legal citizens. This is my opinion.
this sounds like the port of brownsville. rata steve at the helm with tito as his side kick.
espikin of el puerto donde anda ese wanna be gringo mamon? puts campaign signs only where gringos live. PINCHE MAMON RATA.... GOT FIRED FROM EL PUERTO NOW WANTS TO RUN IT. NO GUEY JOSE
cockroach europeans are worst they brought all the fleas and disease from cockroach europe.
GRACIAS... BOLA DE ESTUPIDOS
ON THE TRIP TO THE NEW WORLD: They ate each other up when the food ran out so now all gringos son parientes they all have the same DNA the FBI is confused and can't figure out how to address this problem.
JUST ARREST ALL OF THEM AND SENT BACK TO COCKROACH EUROPE!!!
At 10:52AM You have no idea what DNA is without looking it up on your phone. What grade did you drop-out moron?!
Bozo at 9:40 AM. Are you listening to yourself. Are you as ignorant as you sound. Ancestry has nothing to do with running for office or for that matter in committing a crime. Should the crooked politician be held accountable to the highest extend of the criminal justice system. Absolutely. But to say that he committed a crime because he is Mexican-American and he benefited from the Republic of Mexico shows your racist beliefs. Your mother should be ashamed of you. But then again, you are probably just like your mother.
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