Three TxDOT employees charged with accepting bribes
McALLEN - Three Texas Department of Transportation officials face federal bribery charges, a prosecutor announced Thursday.
All three face a charge of accepting bribes in connection with programs that receive federal funds, U.S. Attorney Don DeGabrielle said in a statement. The charges come after an investigation by the Texas Rangers and the McAllen FBI office.
Authorities arrested Cresenciano "Chano" Falcon, 56, of Edinburg, Ray Llanes, 50, of San Benito, and Noe Beltran, 42, of San Juan.
Falcon is the maintenance administrator for TxDOT's Pharr district - which includes eight counties in South Texas. In that role, he oversees all maintenance TxDOT performs in the area. Beltran and Llanes work as highway inspectors.
The three officials acted independently of each other, according to the U.S. attorney's office.
Authorities have accused Falcon of accepting $2,000 from a contractor in November in exchange for granting work valued at more than $5,000. Authorities say Llanes accepted $200 that same month for steering the work to that contractor, whom the U.S. attorney's office did not name.
Beltran's charge stems from January 2008, when authorities say she took $200 for granting $5,000 of work to a contractor.
TxDOT Executive Director Amadeo Saenz said in a statement that the agency will cooperate fully with the investigation.
"Any allegation of wrongdoing by a member of the TxDOT family is saddening, but this incident renews my commitment to transparency and integrity in all that we do," Saenz said. "I will continue to monitor this investigation and if necessary will take appropriate disciplinary action."
Saenz said he would not comment further "out of respect for the investigators and their work." He did not say in the statement whether the employees would continue to work for TxDOT pending the outcome of the court case.
Beltran and Falcon faced a U.S. magistrate Thursday and were released on bond. Llanes is scheduled to appear before the magistrate Friday.
If convicted, they each face up to 10 years in prison and possibly a $250,000 fine.
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Zack Quaintance covers law enforcement and general assignments for The Monitor. You can reach him at (956) 683-4447.
