http://www.scribd.com/doc/53369565/United-States-of-America-vs-Abel-Corral-Limas-Indictment
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| 404th District Court Judge Abel C. Limas |
Indictment details bribes, casts doubt over ex-judge's rulings
April 03, 2011 5:57 PMBROWNSVILLE — “Calabazas,” or pumpkins, was used as a code word to alert former state 404th
District Court Judge Abel C. Limas that bribe money was coming his way, federal court records show.
As more details come to light, the manner in which Limas operated his court is becoming clearer.
Limas pleaded guilty Thursday to racketeering by soliciting, extorting and accepting bribes totaling at least $257,300 in exchange for giving favorable rulings. His plea, which came in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas, resulted from a federal indictment.
His freedom, his license as a lawyer, and his rulings in criminal and civil cases hang in the balance following his guilty plea.
His alleged activities make up the most explosive corruption case here since the federal conviction in 2005 of former Cameron County Sheriff Conrado Cantu, who is now serving a term of nearly 25 years for racketeering.
The indictment against Limas, an attorney and former police officer, is the result of a years-long investigation that has brought his 35 years in law enforcement and judicial work to a screeching halt.
DETAILS UNFOLD
Documents that are now public make it clear that representatives from the FBI, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration and the Brownsville Police Department investigated Limas for more than two years.
The indictment against him includes details of alleged illicit activities of five other individuals, identified only as persons A, B, C, D and E. One is described as an associate of Limas and four are attorneys.
Former Limas associate Jose Manuel Longoria, 57, was arrested Thursday on a charge of wire fraud, and a comparison of Limas’ indictment and the complaint against Longoria shows that he is Person B of the indictment — an alleged middleman between Limas and criminal defendants. Longoria allegedly helped arrange favorable court treatment in return for monetary payments made directly or indirectly to Limas.
The indictment against Limas alleges that he, aided by Person B, obtained $600 in 2007 to continue and then terminate a probation revocation proceeding; $700 in 2008 to change the terms of a defendant’s appearance bond; and $1,500 as gleaned from a federal investigation using wiretaps that ran from April 22, 2008, to May 13, 2008. It was on May 13, 2008, that Limas changed the terms of probation for a defendant to allow him to report to his probation officer by mail rather than in person.
It was in this last case that Longoria allegedly told Limas’ wife that he had some “calabazas” for Limas, the records show.
The alleged association with Person E, an attorney who has not yet been identified, also dealt with a criminal case. The indictment against Limas alleges that in 2008, he received $2,000 from Person E to modify the terms of probation and dismiss charges against one of Person E’s clients.
The remaining allegations in the indictment involve four civil cases and Persons A, C and D. Two of the cases involve Persons A and C.
The indictment alleges that in a scheme from March 2008 through December 2009, Limas obtained $235,000 from Persons A and C for favorable judicial rulings, transfer of cases and other matters.
Limas lost re-election in 2008 and left office at the end of that year.
The accusations regarding the $235,000 would suggest that Limas’ improper activity started when he was still in office but continued until a year after he left office.
It also is alleged that Limas received $8,000 on May 8, 2008, from Person C at the direction of Person A for favorable judicial rulings, transfer of cases and other matters.
The other two civil cases involve Person D and have to do with the appointment of an ad-litem attorney and other matters in 2008, according to the indictment. Ad-litem attorneys are routinely appointed by state district judges to look after the interests of a minor.
In one case, Limas allegedly received $4,500 from Person D for an ad-litem appointment and $5,000 for denying a motion for a sanction and other judicial acts.
MORE THAN 270 CASES
In his unsuccessful bid in 2008 for a third term in office, Limas touted his experience over his challenger, noting that he had presided over more than 270 criminal and civil cases in the eight years that he had been the judge for the 404th Judicial District.
What effect his plea of guilty for racketeering could have on the court cases involved is not known.
Attorney and former state prosecutor John Blaylock weighed in, noting that the parties involved in the cases could request that the rulings be revisited and even overturned.
“Every single order that was made in the cases is subject to be undone,” Blaylock said. “All the work that was done on those cases has to be redone if either of the parties requests it.”
Cameron County District Attorney Armando R. Villalobos, in a written statement, said he had not received any information from the federal government as to which criminal cases were the subject of Limas’ guilty plea.
Villalobos added: “Generally speaking, the judicial system is not set up to protect the state’s rights to re-prosecute an individual that has gone through a contested matter in court. We can certainly look into possible state charges of bribery against any of the defendants that paid Limas, if they are not already being pursued by the federal government.”
LAW LICENSE
The State Commission on Judicial Conduct said no disciplinary action was taken against Limas while he was in office. An official said they could not comment on whether any complaint had been filed against Limas, citing confidentiality.
Maureen Ray, spokeswoman for the State Bar of Texas, said there is a possibility that Limas could have his law license suspended or he could be disbarred depending on the sentence that he receives. The indication is that this most likely would be done after he had exhausted any appeals.
Limas, however, entered into a plea agreement with the U.S. Attorney’s Office, and, although the plea agreement has been sealed, a review of past plea agreements suggests that the right to appeal was not part of the deal.
LIFE AFTER JUDGESHIP
Limas was district judge from 2001 to 2008 when he lost his re-election bid. At the start of 2009, he established a private practice.
Limas also became affiliated with the Austin-based law firm Rosenthal & Watson, The Brownville Herald found from records filed with the Texas Supreme Court. The documentation, as an exhibit, contains a March 2010 letter from Limas to two attorneys. The letterhead states that Limas is “of counsel” to the Austin firm, meaning he worked with them but was not a partner.
“He was of counsel to the law firm,” firm principal Marc G. Rosenthal verified Friday in a telephone interview with The Herald, noting that Limas stopped being of counsel to his law firm within the past several months.
“I’m just hearing this for the first time,” Rosenthal said of Limas’ indictment and guilty plea when asked for a comment. “My reaction is that I’m surprised.”
Rosenthal said that Limas became of counsel to the firm at the beginning of 2009, shortly after he left the bench.
During the time they were associated, Rosenthal said he never noticed anything amiss, nothing that would suggest that Limas was involved in illicit activity such as receiving bribes.
“No, of course not, everything was aboveboard and legal so far as our dealings,” Rosenthal said.
Limas’ law office remained opened Friday. He did not respond to a request for comment left at his office Thursday.
NEXT STEP
For now, Limas, who faces sentencing July 5, has been ordered to undergo a mental evaluation, not drink, not have a weapon, surrender a passport if he has one and not travel out of state or to Mexico.
He was released on an unsecured $50,000 bond that the court approved.
The court Thursday also approved a defense request — amid objection from the government attorney — to reseal the indictment for up to 14 days.
“I’m not sure what the thinking behind that is,” Blaylock said.
“It has to be that ‘I don’t want all the details to get out’ until the last person is arrested,” he speculated.
--
Emma Perez-Treviño and Laura B. Martinez are reporters for The Brownsville Herald.
In September 1991, Moreno began his federal career as an AUSA for the Southern District of Texas in the Laredo Division office. In 18 years of service with the SDTX, Moreno has served as an OCDETF AUSA, prosecuting a number of high profile cases targeting drug trafficking and money laundering organizations. He also successfully prosecuted the first federal capital case in the district. He has held a number of supervisory positions including five years as the AUSA in Charge of the Laredo Division office, the Deputy Criminal Chief for Narcotics Enforcement in the Houston office for approximately one year and since 2003 as an Assistant Deputy Criminal Chief and South Texas OCDETF Coordinator.
Moreno’s talent as a trial attorney and legal expertise has long been recognized not only in this office but also by the Executive Office of United States Attorneys (EOUSA) in Washington, D.C., where he served a one year detail as the Assistant Director of Criminal Programs. In that capacity, Moreno planned and implemented a number of seminars to train other AUSAs in a variety of areas of litigation including the first national seminar on Capital Litigation in May 1995. He was also a member of the working group responsible for developing the Federal Death Penalty Protocol. In March 2001, Moreno was selected by the Department of Justice to serve a one year detail at the American Embassy in Bogota, Colombia, to oversee the Justice Sector Reform Project in Colombia, an $88 million technical assistance program designed to strengthen the Colombian justice sector and its institutions toward the development of a more effective criminal justice system.
Throughout his federal career, Moreno has been a sought after speaker. He has addressed prosecutors, investigators and even judges on a variety of topics in the United States as well as abroad. In July 2008, Moreno served as an instructor/lecturer under the Department of State’s U.S. Speaker and Special Program Grant in Guatemala, Costa Rica, and El Salvador on strategies for combating organized crime and related matters. The Department of Justice Office of Overseas Prosecutorial Development, Assistance and Training has frequently invited Moreno to serve as an instructor for prosecutors in Venezuela, Argentina, Colombia, Mexico and Panama on a variety of subjects with the latest having been to prosecutors and investigators in Kampala, Uganda, on the subject of trial advocacy in February 2009.
Moreno has chaired or served on a number of task forces or working groups and earned a number of accolades for his outstanding performance as an AUSA including the EOUSA Director’s Award for Superior Performance by an AUSA.
Moreno will lead the district until a new United States Attorney is appointed by the new presidential administration.
As more details come to light, the manner in which Limas operated his court is becoming clearer.
Limas pleaded guilty Thursday to racketeering by soliciting, extorting and accepting bribes totaling at least $257,300 in exchange for giving favorable rulings. His plea, which came in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas, resulted from a federal indictment.
His freedom, his license as a lawyer, and his rulings in criminal and civil cases hang in the balance following his guilty plea.
His alleged activities make up the most explosive corruption case here since the federal conviction in 2005 of former Cameron County Sheriff Conrado Cantu, who is now serving a term of nearly 25 years for racketeering.
The indictment against Limas, an attorney and former police officer, is the result of a years-long investigation that has brought his 35 years in law enforcement and judicial work to a screeching halt.
DETAILS UNFOLD
Documents that are now public make it clear that representatives from the FBI, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration and the Brownsville Police Department investigated Limas for more than two years.
The indictment against him includes details of alleged illicit activities of five other individuals, identified only as persons A, B, C, D and E. One is described as an associate of Limas and four are attorneys.
Former Limas associate Jose Manuel Longoria, 57, was arrested Thursday on a charge of wire fraud, and a comparison of Limas’ indictment and the complaint against Longoria shows that he is Person B of the indictment — an alleged middleman between Limas and criminal defendants. Longoria allegedly helped arrange favorable court treatment in return for monetary payments made directly or indirectly to Limas.
The indictment against Limas alleges that he, aided by Person B, obtained $600 in 2007 to continue and then terminate a probation revocation proceeding; $700 in 2008 to change the terms of a defendant’s appearance bond; and $1,500 as gleaned from a federal investigation using wiretaps that ran from April 22, 2008, to May 13, 2008. It was on May 13, 2008, that Limas changed the terms of probation for a defendant to allow him to report to his probation officer by mail rather than in person.
It was in this last case that Longoria allegedly told Limas’ wife that he had some “calabazas” for Limas, the records show.
The alleged association with Person E, an attorney who has not yet been identified, also dealt with a criminal case. The indictment against Limas alleges that in 2008, he received $2,000 from Person E to modify the terms of probation and dismiss charges against one of Person E’s clients.
The remaining allegations in the indictment involve four civil cases and Persons A, C and D. Two of the cases involve Persons A and C.
The indictment alleges that in a scheme from March 2008 through December 2009, Limas obtained $235,000 from Persons A and C for favorable judicial rulings, transfer of cases and other matters.
Limas lost re-election in 2008 and left office at the end of that year.
The accusations regarding the $235,000 would suggest that Limas’ improper activity started when he was still in office but continued until a year after he left office.
It also is alleged that Limas received $8,000 on May 8, 2008, from Person C at the direction of Person A for favorable judicial rulings, transfer of cases and other matters.
The other two civil cases involve Person D and have to do with the appointment of an ad-litem attorney and other matters in 2008, according to the indictment. Ad-litem attorneys are routinely appointed by state district judges to look after the interests of a minor.
In one case, Limas allegedly received $4,500 from Person D for an ad-litem appointment and $5,000 for denying a motion for a sanction and other judicial acts.
MORE THAN 270 CASES
In his unsuccessful bid in 2008 for a third term in office, Limas touted his experience over his challenger, noting that he had presided over more than 270 criminal and civil cases in the eight years that he had been the judge for the 404th Judicial District.
What effect his plea of guilty for racketeering could have on the court cases involved is not known.
Attorney and former state prosecutor John Blaylock weighed in, noting that the parties involved in the cases could request that the rulings be revisited and even overturned.
“Every single order that was made in the cases is subject to be undone,” Blaylock said. “All the work that was done on those cases has to be redone if either of the parties requests it.”
Cameron County District Attorney Armando R. Villalobos, in a written statement, said he had not received any information from the federal government as to which criminal cases were the subject of Limas’ guilty plea.
Villalobos added: “Generally speaking, the judicial system is not set up to protect the state’s rights to re-prosecute an individual that has gone through a contested matter in court. We can certainly look into possible state charges of bribery against any of the defendants that paid Limas, if they are not already being pursued by the federal government.”
LAW LICENSE
The State Commission on Judicial Conduct said no disciplinary action was taken against Limas while he was in office. An official said they could not comment on whether any complaint had been filed against Limas, citing confidentiality.
Maureen Ray, spokeswoman for the State Bar of Texas, said there is a possibility that Limas could have his law license suspended or he could be disbarred depending on the sentence that he receives. The indication is that this most likely would be done after he had exhausted any appeals.
Limas, however, entered into a plea agreement with the U.S. Attorney’s Office, and, although the plea agreement has been sealed, a review of past plea agreements suggests that the right to appeal was not part of the deal.
LIFE AFTER JUDGESHIP
Limas was district judge from 2001 to 2008 when he lost his re-election bid. At the start of 2009, he established a private practice.
Limas also became affiliated with the Austin-based law firm Rosenthal & Watson, The Brownville Herald found from records filed with the Texas Supreme Court. The documentation, as an exhibit, contains a March 2010 letter from Limas to two attorneys. The letterhead states that Limas is “of counsel” to the Austin firm, meaning he worked with them but was not a partner.
“He was of counsel to the law firm,” firm principal Marc G. Rosenthal verified Friday in a telephone interview with The Herald, noting that Limas stopped being of counsel to his law firm within the past several months.
“I’m just hearing this for the first time,” Rosenthal said of Limas’ indictment and guilty plea when asked for a comment. “My reaction is that I’m surprised.”
Rosenthal said that Limas became of counsel to the firm at the beginning of 2009, shortly after he left the bench.
During the time they were associated, Rosenthal said he never noticed anything amiss, nothing that would suggest that Limas was involved in illicit activity such as receiving bribes.
“No, of course not, everything was aboveboard and legal so far as our dealings,” Rosenthal said.
Limas’ law office remained opened Friday. He did not respond to a request for comment left at his office Thursday.
NEXT STEP
For now, Limas, who faces sentencing July 5, has been ordered to undergo a mental evaluation, not drink, not have a weapon, surrender a passport if he has one and not travel out of state or to Mexico.
He was released on an unsecured $50,000 bond that the court approved.
The court Thursday also approved a defense request — amid objection from the government attorney — to reseal the indictment for up to 14 days.
“I’m not sure what the thinking behind that is,” Blaylock said.
“It has to be that ‘I don’t want all the details to get out’ until the last person is arrested,” he speculated.
--
Emma Perez-Treviño and Laura B. Martinez are reporters for The Brownsville Herald.
José Angel Moreno
United States Attorney
Southern District of Texas
United States Attorney
Southern District of Texas
José Angel Moreno has been appointed by the judges of the Southern District of Texas(SDTX) to serve as our United States Attorney. One of the largest of the nation's 94 federal judicial districts, the SDTX consists of 43 counties from Huntsville to Laredo and includes the metropolitan region centered by Houston, the Texas Gulf Coast region with the Padre Island National Seashore and Wildlife Preserve, the King Ranch and other vast ranch lands and the United States-Mexico border along the stretch of the Rio Grande River from Brownsville to Laredo. Houston is headquarters for the district. Staffed branch offices are located within the district at Brownsville, Corpus Christi, Laredo, McAllen and Victoria.
Moreno, of Laredo, Texas, a former U.S. Marine and 1984 graduate of The University of Texas School of Law, is a career prosecutor with a long and distinguished career as both a state and federal prosecutor. His early legal career began in Del Rio, Texas, in 1984 first as an assistant with the District Attorney’s Office prosecuting felony cases followed by a brief tour of duty as Sector Counsel for the Border Patrol providing legal assistance to sector personnel and agents at 10 substations in a 47 county area.
In 1989, Moreno moved back to his hometown of Laredo to serve as the First Assistant District Attorney (FADA) in the Webb County District Attorney’s Office. As the FADA, Moreno managed and directed the administrative and personnel matters of the office as well as directly supervised seven assistants and six investigators and nine support staff performing the functions involved in the prosecution of felony and misdemeanor violations of state law. Moreno also prosecuted a number of high profile cases during his tenure with the District Attorney’s office including capital murder, public integrity, election code violations, as well as complex white collar offenses. He was also responsible for spearheading and coordinating the effort to computerize a case tracking system for that office.Moreno, of Laredo, Texas, a former U.S. Marine and 1984 graduate of The University of Texas School of Law, is a career prosecutor with a long and distinguished career as both a state and federal prosecutor. His early legal career began in Del Rio, Texas, in 1984 first as an assistant with the District Attorney’s Office prosecuting felony cases followed by a brief tour of duty as Sector Counsel for the Border Patrol providing legal assistance to sector personnel and agents at 10 substations in a 47 county area.
In September 1991, Moreno began his federal career as an AUSA for the Southern District of Texas in the Laredo Division office. In 18 years of service with the SDTX, Moreno has served as an OCDETF AUSA, prosecuting a number of high profile cases targeting drug trafficking and money laundering organizations. He also successfully prosecuted the first federal capital case in the district. He has held a number of supervisory positions including five years as the AUSA in Charge of the Laredo Division office, the Deputy Criminal Chief for Narcotics Enforcement in the Houston office for approximately one year and since 2003 as an Assistant Deputy Criminal Chief and South Texas OCDETF Coordinator.
Moreno’s talent as a trial attorney and legal expertise has long been recognized not only in this office but also by the Executive Office of United States Attorneys (EOUSA) in Washington, D.C., where he served a one year detail as the Assistant Director of Criminal Programs. In that capacity, Moreno planned and implemented a number of seminars to train other AUSAs in a variety of areas of litigation including the first national seminar on Capital Litigation in May 1995. He was also a member of the working group responsible for developing the Federal Death Penalty Protocol. In March 2001, Moreno was selected by the Department of Justice to serve a one year detail at the American Embassy in Bogota, Colombia, to oversee the Justice Sector Reform Project in Colombia, an $88 million technical assistance program designed to strengthen the Colombian justice sector and its institutions toward the development of a more effective criminal justice system.
Throughout his federal career, Moreno has been a sought after speaker. He has addressed prosecutors, investigators and even judges on a variety of topics in the United States as well as abroad. In July 2008, Moreno served as an instructor/lecturer under the Department of State’s U.S. Speaker and Special Program Grant in Guatemala, Costa Rica, and El Salvador on strategies for combating organized crime and related matters. The Department of Justice Office of Overseas Prosecutorial Development, Assistance and Training has frequently invited Moreno to serve as an instructor for prosecutors in Venezuela, Argentina, Colombia, Mexico and Panama on a variety of subjects with the latest having been to prosecutors and investigators in Kampala, Uganda, on the subject of trial advocacy in February 2009.
Moreno has chaired or served on a number of task forces or working groups and earned a number of accolades for his outstanding performance as an AUSA including the EOUSA Director’s Award for Superior Performance by an AUSA.
Moreno will lead the district until a new United States Attorney is appointed by the new presidential administration.
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