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Sunday, January 18, 1998

Starr County indictments long overdue, some residents say

By PAULINE ARRILLAGA / Associated Press Writer

RIO GRANDE CITY, Texas (AP) -- In a remote slice of brush country along the Rio Grande, wealth and poverty meet at the edge of a two-lane highway cutting across Starr County.

One side of the road is dotted with Spanish-style mansions. On the other lies a cluster of dilapidated shacks with no running water and no electricity.

In a county the federal government calls one of the most impoverished in the nation, some residents say they have long known something was amiss.

Those suspicions were confirmed last week, they say, with the indictment of the county sheriff, a justice of the peace and five jailers on federal bribery charges.

"It's about time that people know what we have here," said Carmen Flores, 38, who has lived all her life in Rio Grande City, the Starr County seat. "No one believed it. Now it's like, ÔWow.' It hit everybody."

The officials are accused of accepting thousands of dollars in bribes to refer inmates at the Starr County Jail to a bail bondsman.

The primary target of the investigation is Sheriff Eugenio "Gene" Falcon Jr., 44, whose lavish lifestyle and past brushes with the law have raised eyebrows among some of his constituents for years.

In his 16 years as sheriff, Falcon has earned the reputation as the most powerful man in Starr County, home to about 50,000 mostly Hispanic residents. His mustached face and burly frame, usually outfitted in a cowboy hat and boots, are recognizable almost anywhere.

While supporters call Falcon a good man and respected law officer, critics allege he is a power-hungry politician who used his authority for his own benefit.

"He can make you and he can break you," said Octavio Castaneda, a bail bondsman who sued Falcon in 1992 over the way bonds were distributed at the jail.

"Nobody has as much power in the county as the sheriff does," Castaneda said. "He is the power."

Authorities have kept close watch on Falcon for years, especially after his 1985 purchase of a sprawling ranch-style home once owned by notorious drug kingpin Ramon Garcia Rodriguez.

The following year, Falcon was charged in Mexico with killing a man who allegedly witnessed a triple slaying in Texas. Although a witness identified Falcon as one of the gunmen, the charges eventually were dismissed.

In 1995, Falcon was indicted on state charges of official oppression and assault after a Starr County district attorney's investigator alleged he struck him on the back and neck. The investigator later dropped the charges.

Falcon's lawyer, G. Allen Ramirez, said the charges in both cases were groundless and insists the sheriff is innocent of the latest allegations.

"It's easy to accuse a person of something. It's a lot harder to prove it, and I don't think anything has ever been proven against Gene Falcon," he said.

Prosecutors say that is about to change.

Indictments unsealed last week accuse Falcon of taking more than $5,000 in bribes to refer inmates to bondsman Hector Arturo Longoria.

Cash bribes often were delivered to Falcon at the sheriff's department or his home during the alleged scheme, which lasted from March 1997 through December, according to the indictments.

Prosecutors allege Falcon and his jailers identified inmates who were seeking to be released on bond and referred them to Longoria. Once the bonds were posted, Longoria paid the officials a "referral fee" for their business, prosecutors allege.

If the inmates could not afford the bond amount, Longoria would ask Justice of the Peace Jose Adan Garcia to reduce the bond and then pay him off, according to the indictments.

Falcon, Garcia and the five jailers are charged with multiple counts of bribery and conspiracy. Last week, they pleaded innocent and were released on bond to await trial in March.

If convicted, Falcon faces up to 145 years in prison and $3.75 million in fines.

Prosecutors billed the case as their latest effort to combat corruption along the border. In recent years, the sheriffs of neighboring Hidalgo and Zapata counties have been convicted on corruption charges.

"We hope by bringing this series of indictments that the message is loud and clear: Don't do it," said James DeAtley, U.S. attorney for the Southern District of Texas.

But Falcon's attorney said the sheriff has been wrongly accused by Longoria, who agreed to cooperate with prosecutors after pleading guilty last week to one count of conspiracy to commit bribery.

"I know Gene and I know the person who's making these allegations against him, and it's like night and day," Ramirez said.

The indictments have become the talk of the town in Rio Grande City, although few people want to speak about them publicly.

Local attorney Jesus "Chuy" Alvarez said the town is "in shock because good people are being charged with this type of crime."

On Friday, County Commissioner Eloy Garza issued a tight, "No comment," saying only that Falcon and the others are "good people." The commissioners are expected to decide this week whether to suspend the officials.

One man, who did not want his name published, said corruption is inherent in Starr County and that the charges were "long overdue."

"It should have been taken care of a long time ago," said the man, who served for two years as a police officer in nearby Roma before resigning.

The bail-bond issue first arose when Castaneda sued Falcon, accusing him of allowing jail employees to direct bond business to family and friends.

In 1994, the two sides agreed to a settlement in which the sheriff was to abide by numerous guidelines that included maintaining a permanent log of bond business.

But a year later, Castaneda accused Falcon of violating the settlement and took him back to court on contempt charges. A federal judge found in favor of Falcon.

Castaneda, who has appealed the contempt ruling, said he hoped the federal indictments would finally bring him justice and an end to Falcon's reign.

"It's about time he was dethroned," he said.