Court employees charged with accepting bribes to scuttle cases

EDINBURG — Thousands of criminal cases in one of Hidalgo County’s misdemeanor courts were called into question Wednesday with the arrest of two of its employees on bribery charges.

Daniel Vega, the court coordinator in County Court-at-law No. 5, and his assistant Javier Mireles were caught on video offering to dismiss a case in exchange for a $4,000 payment, Hidalgo County Sheriff Lupe Treviño said.

And while their arrests are tied to one specific payment that came from an undercover investigator, authorities believe similar behavior may have been going on for years, affecting hundreds of criminal defendants.

“I don’t believe that this was their first time at bat,” the sheriff said.

Hidalgo County District Attorney Rene Guerra vowed Wednesday to review every case dismissed in the court over the past seven years, the length of time both men were employed there.

“I am deeply concerned that this would happen in our courthouse and under our watch,” he said. “We are duty-bound to review every case and look for anything that doesn’t seem right. Whatever is wrong, we will try to right it.”

Arnoldo Cantu, the court’s presiding judge, was unavailable for comment, his remaining court staff said Wednesday morning while juggling FBI agents and sheriff’s deputies who arrived to search their office.

Despite the criminal charges against two of his top administrators, Cantu is not currently suspected of any involvement in the bribery scheme, the sheriff said.

MASSIVE REVIEW

Vega, 43, and Mireles, 35, have worked under Cantu since his first election to the county court bench in 2002.

Over the years, they helped manage thousands of cases before the court, scheduling hearings, preparing paperwork and dealing with attorneys.

But exactly how the pair allegedly engineered the dismissal of the case in question remained unclear Wednesday afternoon. Charging documents — including the probable cause affidavits filed for both their arrests — were sealed to protect the ongoing investigation, Guerra said.

In 2009 alone, Hidalgo County’s five misdemeanor courts dismissed 32 percent of all cases that came before them, or 4,859 cases total, according to statistics kept by the Texas Office of Court Administration.

The reasons ranged from lack of evidence to a successfully completed probationary sentence or the failure of key witnesses to appear in court.

Typically, the process involves a judge granting a motion by the state in favor of dismissal and then filing a form to close the case with the county clerk’s office. These dismissal forms require the signatures of the prosecutor overseeing the case and the presiding judge of the court.

But Guerra suggested Wednesday that it might be possible for someone to forge those signatures. He offered no explanation on how the disappearance of these cases from a court’s docket could go unnoticed by a judge or prosecutor.

“If there are 1,000 cases, I’ll have to look at 1,000 cases to see if the signature of my prosecutor and the judge is authentic,” he said. “I’ll also have to look at the conduct of my staff — whether they were duped into something unwillingly.”

ONGOING INVESTIGATION

The investigation began nearly a year ago, when a cooperating witness first reported the scheme to FBI agents, the sheriff said. It culminated Wednesday in simultaneous raids of the County Court-at-law No. 5 office and Vega’s and Mireles’ residences.

Sheriff’s deputies and federal agents carted off boxes of case files from the county courthouse. They plan to comb through the records in the next several weeks to determine whether to seek any additional charges.

All filings pertaining to the bribery scheme will likely remain barred from public review for the considerable future, said Guerra.

“To be honest, I want to seal them for as long as possible,” he said. “I want to protect the investigation right now.”

Vega and Mireles were each arraigned Wednesday afternoon on one count of bribery — a second-degree felony punishable by up to 20 years in prison and an optional fine of up to $10,000.

Hidalgo County Justice of the Peace Rosa Treviño released both men on personal recognizance bonds — a privilege that allows defendants deemed a low flight risk to leave jail without any payment until their next scheduled court appearance.

Mireles’ attorney C.J. Quintanilla did not return late afternoon calls for comment Wednesday. As of late that evening, Vega had not been appointed a lawyer.

But as he left the crowded jailhouse courtroom, a bewildered-looking Vega insisted upon his own innocence in a rambling speech.

“I do apologize for being here under these circumstances, but I am only accused,” he told the judge.

“This is just part of our job,” she responded. “I know you know this, being in the courts.”

 Monitor staff writer Jared Taylor contributed to this report.

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 Jeremy Roebuck covers courts and general assignments for The Monitor. You can reach him at (956) 683-4437.