June 23, 2011 10:12 PM
The Brownsville Herald
Two more indictments have been handed down in the Abel C. Limas racketeering case with a married couple now facing wire fraud charges.
Karina and Armando Peña, address unknown, are accused of providing $1,800 in bribes to Limas, then the 404th state district judge in Cameron County, in exchange for Limas allowing Armando Peña to report to his probation officer by mail.
The couple appeared Thursday before U.S. Magistrate Felix Recio on a count of aiding and abetting honest services wire fraud.
Karina Peña’s bail was set at $25,000. Armando Peña was ordered held without bail. Both are scheduled to appear in court on Wednesday.
According to the indictment, the Peñas provided the money to Limas with Jose Manuel Longoria acting as a middleman.
The indictment states that the Peñas along with Longoria and Limas “did intentionally and knowingly transmit and caused to be transmitted, by means of wire communications in interstate commerce, approximately $1,800, from Arkansas, to Cameron County, Texas, for the purpose of executing such scheme and artifice.”
Court documents state Karina Peña asked Longoria over the phone to help her husband obtain court authorization to report by mail to his state probation officer rather than in person.
According to the indictment, in March 2006 Armando Peña was sentenced to eight years’ probation following his conviction for aggravated assault. He was ordered to report monthly, in person, to his probation officer.
Without authorization, Armando Peña moved to Arkansas, the indictment states. He transferred $1,800 to Longoria to be used “in part to bribe Judge Abel Corral Limas in return for Limas’ order to allow him to report to his probation officer by mail,” the indictment reads.
The FBI obtained Western Union records showing that $1,800 was sent on April 24, 2008, from Armando Peña in Hot Springs, Ark., to a relative of Longoria in Harlingen.
Court records indicate that on April 23, Limas contacted Armando Peña’s probation officer and ordered that the defendant be allowed to report by mail. On May 13, 2008, Limas signed an order modifying the probation judgment, the documents show.
The Penas are the latest individuals to be indicted in connection with the Limas racketeering case. Brownsville attorney Ray Ramon Marchan was also indicted this week on racketeering, conspiracy to commit racketeering, aiding and abetting extortion, and aiding and abetting wire fraud charges. He pleaded not guilty to the charges.
Also indicted this week was Francisco "Pancho" Cisneros, 47, of Brownsville, a bail bondsman charged with conspiracy to extort and aiding and abetting extortion. He will appear in court today.
Limas pleaded guilty to one count of racketeering earlier this year and is scheduled to be sentenced in October.
Former state Rep. Jim Solis and Jose Manuel Longoria were also indicted earlier this year.
Solis pleaded guilty to a charge of aiding and abetting and is scheduled to be sentenced in August.
Longoria pleaded not guilty to charges with extortion, wire fraud and drug-related offenses. His trial is pending.
Lmartinez@brownsvilleherald.com
Karina and Armando Peña, address unknown, are accused of providing $1,800 in bribes to Limas, then the 404th state district judge in Cameron County, in exchange for Limas allowing Armando Peña to report to his probation officer by mail.
The couple appeared Thursday before U.S. Magistrate Felix Recio on a count of aiding and abetting honest services wire fraud.
Karina Peña’s bail was set at $25,000. Armando Peña was ordered held without bail. Both are scheduled to appear in court on Wednesday.
According to the indictment, the Peñas provided the money to Limas with Jose Manuel Longoria acting as a middleman.
The indictment states that the Peñas along with Longoria and Limas “did intentionally and knowingly transmit and caused to be transmitted, by means of wire communications in interstate commerce, approximately $1,800, from Arkansas, to Cameron County, Texas, for the purpose of executing such scheme and artifice.”
Court documents state Karina Peña asked Longoria over the phone to help her husband obtain court authorization to report by mail to his state probation officer rather than in person.
According to the indictment, in March 2006 Armando Peña was sentenced to eight years’ probation following his conviction for aggravated assault. He was ordered to report monthly, in person, to his probation officer.
Without authorization, Armando Peña moved to Arkansas, the indictment states. He transferred $1,800 to Longoria to be used “in part to bribe Judge Abel Corral Limas in return for Limas’ order to allow him to report to his probation officer by mail,” the indictment reads.
The FBI obtained Western Union records showing that $1,800 was sent on April 24, 2008, from Armando Peña in Hot Springs, Ark., to a relative of Longoria in Harlingen.
Court records indicate that on April 23, Limas contacted Armando Peña’s probation officer and ordered that the defendant be allowed to report by mail. On May 13, 2008, Limas signed an order modifying the probation judgment, the documents show.
The Penas are the latest individuals to be indicted in connection with the Limas racketeering case. Brownsville attorney Ray Ramon Marchan was also indicted this week on racketeering, conspiracy to commit racketeering, aiding and abetting extortion, and aiding and abetting wire fraud charges. He pleaded not guilty to the charges.
Also indicted this week was Francisco "Pancho" Cisneros, 47, of Brownsville, a bail bondsman charged with conspiracy to extort and aiding and abetting extortion. He will appear in court today.
Limas pleaded guilty to one count of racketeering earlier this year and is scheduled to be sentenced in October.
Former state Rep. Jim Solis and Jose Manuel Longoria were also indicted earlier this year.
Solis pleaded guilty to a charge of aiding and abetting and is scheduled to be sentenced in August.
Longoria pleaded not guilty to charges with extortion, wire fraud and drug-related offenses. His trial is pending.
Lmartinez@brownsvilleherald.com
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