Fmr. Mexican Border State Governor Arrested on Election Fraud Charges

A former Mexican border state governor faces election fraud charges and now sits in a prison built during his term of office. The allegations stem from an investigation started by the current governor.

On Tuesday afternoon, state authorities arrested Jaime Heliodoro “El Bronco” Rodriguez Calderon, the former governor of Nuevo Leon. The arrest was ordered by a state judge, a statement from the Electoral Crimes Unit from the State Attorney General’s Office revealed.

Jaime Rodríguez Calderón, ‘El Bronco’, ya se encuentra en el penal de Apodaca, Nuevo León, luego de ser detenido por presunto desvío de recursos pic.twitter.com/n6kNIU6lx2

— Urbis Veracruz (@UrbisVeracruz) March 16, 2022

Soon after the arrest, Nuevo Leon authorities released photographs from inside the prison that showed El Bronco in a vulnerable state as he was booked. Those photographs sparked controversy in Mexico where some political pundits and former politicians called it a low-blow.

Más marranadas, canibalismo puro:
. Bronco a Medina……
. El “chamaco a Bronco.
Aguas “chamaco” estas muy joven para meterte entre las patas de los caballos!!

— Vicente Fox Quesada (@VicenteFoxQue) March 15, 2022

The charges are based on El Bronco’s alleged use of government time to collect 570 signatures from state employees during his 2018 unsuccessful bid for president, El Universal reported. The investigation was started after Senator-turned-Governor Samuel Garcia Sepulveda filed formal complaints about the matter.

Ser incorruptibles empieza por no robar, por castigar a los que robaron y desviaron el dinero de Nuevo León a sus campañas. Y aquí ya empezamos.#NuevoLeónIncorruptible #Broncofirmas pic.twitter.com/HGLXp84HjH

— Samuel García (@samuel_garcias) March 15, 2022

After his term ended last year, the controversial Bronco became a social media influencer. As Breitbart Texas reported, El Bronco took office in 2015 after winning a historic election as an independent candidate. El Bronco went after his predecessor, accusing him of corruption and ordering his arrest. The case was dismissed months later. The politician sparked an uproar during his presidential bid when he called for severing the hands of corrupt individuals.

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.