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Edinburg gang cop accused of sex, abuse of power
Robert Alvarez was suspended indefinitely — essentially fired — in December
©2011 The Monitor
EDINBURG — An Edinburg police investigator stands accused of having oral sex with an inmate at the city jail while maintaining a sexual affair with another woman whom he tracked with improperly obtained phone records.
An eight-count indictment unsealed late last week says Robert Alvarez, 47, misused official information, violated an inmate’s civil rights and stole from the city’s coffers by filing bogus time sheets for overtime pay.
Prosecutors and police have remained mum, mostly, about the probe into Alvarez’s purported misdealing, which spans from August 2008 to 2010. They maintain court papers filed in the ongoing case speak for themselves.
“It just kind of blew up in his face,” a law enforcement peer said of Alvarez’s situation.
Alvarez was Edinburg’s lead gang investigator until his indefinite suspension in December. He engaged in a sexual relationship with a woman whom he tracked using cell phone records obtained via a subpoena he petitioned Hidalgo County prosecutors to obtain in August 2008 and November 2009, according to the indictment.
Beyond those allegations, Alvarez also faces charges that he had sexual relations with a woman booked at the Police Department.
Defense lawyer Reynaldo Merino said Alvarez “is quite honestly surprised by the indictment.”
“Prosecutors have discretion on the way they want to describe the elements of the offense set forth,” Merino said. “In this case, they were written in a way you might say is disparaging.”
Alvarez is accused of engaging in oral sex with a woman who was in Edinburg police custody Feb. 16, 2010, after she was arrested on robbery charges.
Investigators also accuse Alvarez of stealing between $500 and $1,500 from the Police Department in August 2010 — likely from filing two time sheets for seven hours of overtime pay over a two-day span when he actually visited one of the women at her house.
In all, the indictment based on evidence collected by the Texas Rangers resulted in three criminal counts of misuse of official information, two counts of violation of civil rights of a person in custody, two counts of tampering with a governmental record and a count of theft by a public servant.
The most serious felony counts — misuse of official information — carry a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison and a $10,000 fine upon conviction.
A grand jury heard the allegations in January and returned an eight-count indictment that was unsealed Friday. Alvarez is set to appear at an arraignment hearing Wednesday in the 206th state District Court.
Authorities and attorneys, meanwhile, had little to say publicly Tuesday about the allegations against Alvarez.
Edinburg’s interim police chief, Peter De La Garza, said the charges stemmed from an internal police investigation launched last summer. When the purported misconduct turned into a criminal case, police handed over the case to Texas Rangers investigators.
The department indefinitely suspended Alvarez without pay Dec. 10, the interim chief said.
“In other words, it means he was fired,” De La Garza said. Alvarez continues to pursue an appeal to his firing through the Police Department’s civil service commission.
Lt. Rolando Castaneda of the Texas Rangers, who, coincidentally, was introduced as Edinburg’s new police chief Tuesday, declined to comment on the case “because it’s still pending.” Prosecutors from the Texas Attorney General’s Office, which is handling the case, declined comment.
Alvarez appeared in a 2009 episode of the History Channel series Gangland, talking at length about the rise of the Tri-City Bombers and the Edinburg Massacre.
Also appearing on the program was Jorge “Choche” Martinez, a gang kingpin serving a life sentence for his role in the massacre. The inmate talked of the folly of leading a criminal lifestyle.
“All these things are only temporary, fantasy,” Martinez said. “It’s only for one day. The next day, it’s all gone.”
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Jared Taylor covers courts and general assignments for The Monitor. He can be reached at (956) 683-4439.
