Texas Border Politician Convicted for Lying About $2K Bribe

FBI Raid
AP File Photo/Ricardo Arduengo

A former city commissioner from a Texas border-area municipality pleaded guilty to lying to a federal grand jury in connection with approximately $2,000 in bribes.

This week, David Fox, a former city commissioner in Weslaco, went before U.S. District Judge Micaela Alvarez in McAllen, where he pleaded guilty to one count of lying under oath. His sentencing is set for January 2020.

According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Texas, Fox served as a Weslaco city commissioner from 2012 to 2015 and as a board member in the city’s economic development corporation. As part of an ongoing investigation into fraud in Weslaco, Fox was summoned before a grand jury in November 2018. During that appearance, Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert Lopez Jr. Asked Fox if he had benefited from his votes as a city commissioner. Fox initially said no, however shortly after he revealed that he had received approximately $2,000 in bribes aimed at influencing him to vote a certain way.

Former Weslaco officials have been linked to a large-scale investigation into a bribery scheme for approximately $40 million in construction and rehabilitation projects for the city’s water treatment plant. The arrangements led to some of the most expensive water rates for customers in the region. Since then, current officials have been trying to recover some of the stolen funds, fix the defective water plants, and lower the rates.

Ildefonso Ortiz is an award-winning journalist with Breitbart Texas. He co-founded Breitbart Texas’ Cartel Chronicles project with Brandon Darby and senior Breitbart management. You can follow him on Twitter and on Facebook. He can be contacted at Iortiz@breitbart.com

Brandon Darby is the managing director and editor-in-chief of Breitbart Texas. He co-founded Breitbart Texas’ Cartel Chronicles project with Ildefonso Ortiz and senior Breitbart management. Follow him on Twitter and Facebook. He can be contacted at bdarby@breitbart.com.     

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