3 get prison time in Access conspiracy: Ex-Ysleta trustee will serve probation in corruption case [El Paso Times, Texas]
By Marty Schladen, El Paso Times, Texas | |
McClatchy-Tribune Information Services |
Former County Commissioner and ex-city Rep.
Former Ysleta school
board member
During Tuesday's hearings, Montalvo angrily rebuked Chavez's husband for interfering in a pre-sentence interview.
Montalvo ordered Escobar, Duntley and Medina immediately into custody while their families cried and hugged in the crowded courtroom.
All four defendants pleaded guilty after being indicted in 2010 along with seven others in the Access HealthSource conspiracy. Of the seven others, only
Access was owned by the
head,
According to the indictment, in 2004, Access President
The same year, after Access lost its contract with the Ysleta school district,
After initial resistance, Duntley also supported replacing the law firm representing the school board with one of
Duntley, a retired
"For the past several years, I have had to deal with the devastating consequences of what I did," he said. "I allowed my judgment to be clouded by people I initially trusted."
Escobar also said he was sorry. "I disgraced my family name," said Escobar, who was implicated, but not charged, in other corruption cases. "I disgraced my honorable profession."
Medina was ordered to pay far more than the others -- in part because he was ordered to repay the salary he received as a county commissioner after getting the job fraudulently.
His attorney,
Former County Judge
Last August, Assistant U.S. Attorney
"Such was the case with
Briones wasn't charged in the Access indictment, but it says she took
It's unclear whether Montalvo will take that into account when he sentences Briones next month, but the federal judge appeared to consider Medina's tenure on the
Panetta said Medina was offered
"Do not minimize your client's conduct," Montalvo said sternly.
The judge then quoted from a transcript of a wiretap in which Schwartz told Medina, "We want to thank you for all the s--- you did for us when you were on the city council."
"There wasn't a squeak from
The judge also had strong words for Chavez and her husband,
Montalvo called
"I was not acting in any selfish way or for any personal gain," she said tearfully, and then made reference to a lawyer and long-time acquaintance, apparently
Such was
The indictment does not accuse
At her guilty-plea hearing, Kanof said that in 2004 Linda Chavez sent an email to then-Ysleta schools Superintendent
She later told the superintendent she didn't write the email and at least two others she'd sent him about Access. The
"What qualifies a stay-at-home mom of 22 years to be on the board of a multimillion-dollar enterprise is beyond me," Troche said.
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