{"id":51887,"date":"2023-01-19T08:47:06","date_gmt":"2023-01-19T16:47:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=51887"},"modified":"2023-01-19T09:17:53","modified_gmt":"2023-01-19T17:17:53","slug":"three-sent-to-prison-for-bribing-city-commissioners-to-get-tens-of-million-of-dollars-in-contracts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=51887","title":{"rendered":"Three Sent to Prison for Bribing City Commissioners to Get Tens of Million of Dollars in Contracts"},"content":{"rendered":"

TEXAS<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"Three Texas men were sentenced Wednesday for their roles in a conspiracy to pay bribes to two city commissioners in Weslaco in exchange for their official actions in connection with city contracts worth tens of millions of dollars.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Former Hidalgo County Commissioner Arturo C. Cuellar Jr., 69, of Progresso Lakes, was sentenced to 20 years in prison. <\/span><\/p>\n

Ricardo Quintanilla, 57, and John F. Cuellar, 60, both of Weslaco, were sentenced to more than 16 years in prison, and three years, respectively.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cOur office will not turn a blind eye to public corruption, especially when it results in significant burdens to residents within our district,\u201d said U.S. Attorney Alamdar S. Hamdani for the Southern District of Texas. \u201cWeslaco was warned for years to upgrade its water infrastructure in order to provide potable water. The defendants used this opportunity to participate in a multimillion-dollar scheme that ultimately saddled residents with debt and bribery costs for their drinking water system.”<\/span><\/p>\n

According to court evidence presented at trial, Arturo Cuellar and Quintanilla agreed with others to bribe two Weslaco City Commissioners, John Cuellar and Gerardo Tafolla, in exchange for official actions favorable to engineering companies seeking large contracts with the city.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n