Failed La Joya candidates face libel suit
EDINBURG – A former state representative recently filed a libel lawsuit against a group of La Joya school board candidates and their political allies for an election flier depicting him as a rat.
The 11 defendants, including some current and former mayors, deny any responsibility for the campaign literature, which claims former State Rep. Sergio Muñoz Sr. used his Mission-based home health care business for insurance fraud.
At a La Joya school board meeting Wednesday, Muñoz declined to comment on the lawsuit, but his complaint maintains he suffered severe commercial, reputational and mental damages.
“This is a purely political lawsuit,” said Oscar Longoria, who represents some of the defendants. “My guys had nothing to do with it.”
The list of individuals named in the suit reads like a Who’s Who in western Hidalgo County: Peñitas Mayor Marcos Ochoa, former La Joya Mayor Rodolfo Farias, former La Joya Police Chief Eleuterio Morales, Sullivan City political heavyweight Joel Benavides, and more.
All spent time before the La Joya school board election helping the failed “Join the PACK” campaign of four co-defendants: Juan Jose “J.J.” Garza, Eden Ramirez Jr., Gabriel Salinas and Oscar “Coach” Salinas.
“Oscar” Salinas denied connections to and knowledge of who distributed the disputed flier, adding that he had no plans to sue those who smeared his name in the election.
“When I first saw fliers against me, I was embarrassed, but that’s life,” he said. “A lawsuit is a child’s game, and we’re here to fight for the kids and community, not money.”
The lawsuit alleges that if Salinas and his allies did not themselves publish the rat fliers, they at least “commissioned a group of confederates” to do so.
Lawyers for the defendants denied that and said they are currently looking for the original designers.
The attorneys have also begun an exhaustive investigation into the personal, political and financial background of Muñoz, who they say has a history of ethical and moral problems.
The former lawmaker has been convicted for driving while intoxicated in 1996.
In 1993, he faced charges in U.S. for allegedly possessing more than 600 pounds of marijuana with intent to distribute. A jury found him innocent on that count.
The defendants’ lawyers will look into criminal histories like that and establish how strong of a financial footing Muñoz stood on before he claimed the fliers damaged his business and income.
Attorney David Garcia filed the original complaint for Muñoz on election day but then submitted an amended lawsuit the day after. In it, he cited three additional defendants: Team PACK treasurer Roberto Cardenas, Agua Special Utility District board member Ricardo Ochoa and former La Joya school employee Leeroy Ortiz.
Lawyers for the defendants said it was unclear why the additional three were tacked onto the lawsuit.
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Neal Morton covers education and general assignments for The Monitor. He can be reached at (956)683-4472.
