A federal judge has shot down a motion to dismiss the conspiracy and theft-from-federal-programs indictments against Ruben Gallegos Sr. and Ruben Gallegos Jr.
Judge Fernando Rodriguez Jr. consideration and denial of the defendants' motion for summary judgment which they filed August 13 caused jury selection in the case against of the Gallegos to be moved from September 3 to October 11, with the final pre-trial conference before Rodriguez now set for October 1.
The denial of the motion virtually closes all avenues left for the Gallegos to prevent them from being tried before the judge or a jury.
Gallegos Sr. was the Chief Executive Officer and Gallegos Jr. was the Executive Director of International Educational Services (IES), a non profit that contracted with the federal government under the Unaccompanied Alien Children care and placement program that provided housing, food, and other services to children under the age of 18 who have no immigration status in the United States and who have no parent of legal guardian available to provide care and physical custody.
IES' Chief Financial Officer Juan Gonzalez had previously pleaded guilty to the charges in the indictment. Gonzalez is the brother-in law of Gallegos Sr. and uncle to Gallegos Jr.
Rodriguez issued his order Tuesday denying their motion for dismissal based on claims that the indictment against the two men – and Chief Financial Officer Juan Gonzalez – failed to allege an offense and that the acts fell outside the five-year statute of limitations.
"Based on the factual allegations within the indictment and applicable law, the court concludes that the defendants are not entitled to the relief they request," Rodriguez wrote in his order
Gonzalez pleaded guilty in a re-arraignment held April 22 to conspiracy and theft charges concerning programs receiving federal funds on April 22. He had previously pleaded not guilty to both charges at the time of he was arrested along with the Gallegos Aug. 30, 2022.
In approximately 30 minutes that the re-arraignment lasted, he – with his attorney Reynaldo Garza at his side – admitted that in those four years, he and the Gallegos were responsible to conspiring to steal and embezzle millions in federal funds. He also agreed to cooperate with the government's prosecution against the Gallegos. His sentencing was also moved until after the two men are tried.
The defendants are also accused in the indictment of misapplying millions of dollars in federal grant funds meant to be used for temporarily housing migrant children at IES. The Brownsville Herald's Mark Regan reported that IES abruptly shuttered its doors and fired all of its employees on March 31, 2018, although neither the federal government or IES explained why the nonprofit suddenly closed.
The Herald filed a successful Freedom of Information Act request with the Office of Refugee Resettlement’s Administration for Children & Families for communication between those agencies and IES following the closure and also reviewed years of IES tax documents.
The newspaper reported at the time that the information revealed how the organization used millions of dollars in federal grant monies, including that IES employees profited from leased properties owned by its executives and that those executives paid themselves salaries that were more than federal grant rules allowed.
During the re-arraignment, the U.S. attorneys charged that the three men conspired to increase their salaries in 2017 to pay themselves salaries way over the $183,000 cap limit. Gallegos Jr. set his 2017 salary at $435,416.88, Gallegos Sr. was paid $506, 0032.22 and Gonzalez $377,060.96. But in later tax filings, both Gallegos paid themselves more than $650,000 and Gonzalez over $550,000.
The government said the men had not requested nor had the government issued any waivers allowing IES to pay the three salaries above the $183,000 cap.
The 2018 numbers were not included in the indictments. They are also charged with using federal grant funds to rent properties they owned at exorbitant prices.
“Ruben Gallegos Sr. and Juan Jose Gonzalez approved less-than-arms-length transactions in which IES used federal grant funds to pay for multiple leases on the same properties that were owned by Ruben Gallegos Sr., or related entities, in order to inflate rental income paid with federal grant funds to Ruben Gallegos Sr.,” the indictment stated.
That 13-page indictment also alleges they purchased a $1 million San Benito property and falsely claimed it was operational and would serve more than 1,000 children in Fiscal Year 2015.
“The IES San Benito Shelter was not operational during FY-2015,” the indictment stated.
The government's report on the amount of misapplied federal funds by IES tops $17 million.
26 comments:
Jr. Enjoy the prison hot tub
And live boxing matches
Judges really need to know the law because lawyers are always looking for ways to protect their clients. May God protect and keep this judge brave and strong and keep the lawyers and clients sane to continue the good fight.
They need to be en la pinta aka el corralon. Educated idiotic thieves like Dr. S. Atkinson. Do they have an addiction too? It is an addiction to money 💰.
POP AND SON ARE IN BIG BIG TROUBLE
Good!!! Make an example of these theives! Enough is enough! Keep bringing these ratas down.
"El que la hace, la paga!" = Pedro Infante, 1939
Falto la vieja donde anda, en hawaii? She's the one that spent all da dough....busquenla
de adonde son estos pendejos - MATA-MOSCAS?
El "jefe" de policia Felix Sauceda parece mesero con la camisa blanca, manga larga!!
Linda Gallegos must be worried
Anne Hutchinson, an Englishwoman who would become an outspoken religious thinker in the American colonies, arrives at the Massachusetts Bay Colony with her family.
Chensa arrives en el valle in early 1600 after wading el rio grande. A non-thinker and non-religious person was instrumental in low profiling herself. she passed on in the late 1600 and was never remembered till today.... adios perdida
MANÁ, the biggest and most influential Latino music band in history, just blindsided Donald Trump and his new bff Nicky Jam with a bombshell that is sure to cost Trump A LOT of Latino votes. Well done, MANÁ!
Good for you judge Rodriguez. Time to put these scumbags behind bars. Don’t forget about everyone else that was involved in this mess!! Time to “drop the hammer “ on these losers.
These local big fish (?) are tiny shrimp compared to the big sharks in Washington DC like Biden, Melendez etc
When found guilty, please remove the Gallegos name from the elementary school named after these thieves!
Ditto
Be a RATA and get a school named for your extra curricular actives in the community. BISD LOGO!!!
The redhead?
A pero every Sunday they have a mass for the lady RIP
Take a look at the 990 tax forms over this period of time. Several people were not indicted that should have been…Lucio 3, Chuy from San Benito, just to name a couple! Everyone was having a great time with the government’s money until someone got wise to their schemes.
just because you are a coco does not mean you can do anything you want PENDEJOS!!!
Exactly, why no indictment of Eddie Lucio the Tuuuuurd. Pinche vato no vale madre.
So, Feds gave a slap-on the hand to the Lucio's without consequences. That's why all the Lucio's continue to get away with shit.
da name will live on LOS LUCIOS SUCIOS, de brown town. RATAS RATAS Y MAS RATAS....
In that picture old Gallegos looks like he has been peed. His son looks like a piece of shit. Un mojon y nada mas. Their viejas only see George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, and Benjamin Franklin. I can't forget Andrew Jackson.
Eddie, Lucio Junior and Eddie Lucio the third already made their deals. They are now partners or paid advisors working with almost all the staff at IES. They may not be allowed to run for public office anymore, but they’re still collecting money through corporations involving Luigi Ciano, chewy from San Benito, and Gail Robinson they are operating a center right now the government gave all the same people involved with the Gallegos Cristiano is making over $500,000 a month just in properties that were passed along to him by the Lucios and the Gallegos all One needs to do is follow the shell corpse all of them work together at IES pretty sure chewy and San Benito had a lot to say and of course was a big Lucio supporter and a big supporter of the Democratic Party and now that all of this has transpired he is now a Republican the Lucios have put everything in the new corporations, all the permits and all the contracts under the name of Eddie Lucio juniors nephew and Gail Robinson is operating. They should all be prosecuted and find out who at ORR is allowing them to get away with all of this Luigi. Cristiano is not smart enough to have a mast such a fortune without the Lucios and the Gallegos passing all their properties off to him , and now he gives them kickbacks why did the federal government not arrest all of these people and charge them all? The most upsetting part is that they are closing a lot of these places down because of the corruption, but not filing charges on anyone except for the greedy ones that kept trying to squeeze out more money would love to see at least Luigi Ciano, Gail, Robinson, and chewy from San Benito all get charged The Lucille’s will never get charged because they already made their deal. That’s why they’re no longer in politics, but they never took any money from them. I think all these people should have to Pay restitution so that we taxpayers can least get some justice instead of them continuing to pay the people who are operating because their names weren’t Gallegos don’t get me wrong needs to be put in jail and his father needs to be fined and pay restitution, but Luigi Ciano, Gail Robinson and a few others that worked for IES and now operate with the Lucio and are all making money and still playing the same games ORR should be also held accountable because they continue to give the same crooks permits and continue to let them operate. They are all greedy pigs and should be put away just because they think people are stupid.
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