Brownsville mayor vows to fight criminal charges

BROWNSVILLE — Mayor Pat M. Ahumada Jr. said Thursday his deep faith would see him through charges that he stole a $26,139 check from the city he was elected to represent.

A Cameron County grand jury handed down a three-count criminal indictment against the mayor Wednesday, charging him with theft, abuse of official capacity and misapplication of fiduciary property. All are felony offenses, and each charge carries a possible prison term of two to 10 years and a fine of up to $10,000 upon conviction.

Ahumada has been under scrutiny for several months in connection with a city-issued check deposited into his bank account. The $26,139 check, dated Oct. 22, had been made payable to Hauppauge, N.Y., vendor Tarsia Technical Industries Inc. but was deposited into Ahumada's bank account on Oct. 28.

The mayor has consistently denied any wrongdoing.

"I refute them," he said Thursday of the charges he now faces.

His attorney, John Blaylock, expressed eagerness for his client to have his day in court.

"I want to get it to trial so that we can tell our side," Blaylock said. "The indictment, to me, is the first step in his exoneration. I have every confidence that my client will be vindicated."

Ahumada was tearful at times as he spoke about the indictment's impact on his family during a news conference Thursday. He vowed he would not step down as mayor pending trial, but he asked to be tried promptly on the grounds that the indictment hanging over him is damaging to the city.

Cameron County District Attorney Armando Villalobos seemed eager to oblige, noting he could be ready for trial within the next 10 days.

A Brownsville police investigation found that Ahumada deposited the vendor check to his business account, but investigators were unable to determine how he came into possession of it.

Ahumada has said that either someone deposited the check to discredit him or that the city erroneously gave it to him instead of a travel advance or mileage check and that he or a family member or associate then deposited it by mistake.

The vendor has since been paid for the equipment, the president of Tarsia Technical Industries said Thursday.

The case has been assigned to 107th state District Judge Benjamin Euresti Jr.

Doug Pettit, who is in charge of Villalobos' white-collar crimes division, is slated to prosecute the case.

Ahumada's indictment should send a message to elected officials that no one is above the law, Villalobos said Thursday.

"He tries to make a mockery of the system and tries to dictate what is going to occur, and we are hoping that it sends a message to those that do similar actions that at some point you are going to have to answer to it," the district attorney said.

Ahumada, for his part, said he was looking forward to the chance to exonerate himself.

"I think that at the end of the day, it will be proven that I am innocent and the best way to clear my name is through a jury," he said. "Who better than a jury of your peers to look into this with unbiased and objective eyes?"

The 56-year-old Ahumada is in his second year of office as the city's highest elected official.

Accompanied by his attorney, the mayor turned himself in to the Cameron County Sheriff's Department shortly after noon Thursday.

"Anybody could have gone and picked him up," Villalobos said, "(but) we didn't want there to be an appearance that we were being unfair or being unreasonable."

The mayor was released at 12:50 p.m. after being booked, photographed and fingerprinted at the Carrizalez-Rucker Detention Center near Olmito. He posted a $15,000 surety bond.

Blaylock said the three charges against his client amount to the same offense, but stated in different ways.

Several local voters interviewed Thursday declined to pass judgment on the mayor while his case is pending.

"I don't think it's right to jump the gun and pass judgment on him until he has gone to court," said Francisco Rodriguez, 24. "Let's hear his side of the story and then decide. It's a constitutional right that everyone is innocent until proven guilty. I don't know what the (Cameron County) district attorney knows, so I just can't judge (Ahumada) yet."

Rodriguez's main concern right now is for Brownsville's image, he said, worrying that it would be tarnished by the indictment hanging over its chief executive.

The young man originally supported another candidate during the 2007 mayoral race; however, Rodriguez said the mayor won his respect after the election.

"It sounded like his heart was in the right place," he said.

Ahumada supporter Juanita Hernandez, 39, said the news of the indictment has not affected her feelings for the mayor.

"It will affect his credibility," she said of the indictment, "but I'm still with him."

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Brownsville Herald reporter Ildefonso Ortiz contributed to this report.

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Emma Perez-Treviño and Laura B. Martinez are reporters for The Brownsville Herald.