County officials sought bribes, charges allege

06/10/2007

By David Crowder / El Paso Times

The federal charges filed against former county chief of staff John Travis Ketner implicate several elected officials and describe how county officials allegedly sought bribes from vendors, received secret campaign donations, met in a bathroom and restaurants and broke into a computer in an attempt to rig court cases.

The charges, included in a document called an "information" and filed in U.S. District Court, accuse County Judge Anthony Cobos and 16 other county officials, individuals and companies of bribery and a wide array of other illegal activities.

The four federal charges to which Ketner pleaded guilty Friday describe how he and other uncharged co-conspirators allegedly sought bribes and campaign contributions from vendors trying to win or keep county contracts worth millions of dollars.

In pleading guilty to the charges, Ketner has apparently implicated Cobos, County Commissioners Luis Sariñana and Miguel Terán and County Clerk Gilbert Sanchez, along with three prominent El Paso lawyers, Luther Jones, David Escobar and Martie Jobe.

Cobos declined to comment and referred reporters to his Austin lawyer John Botsford.

"I can say Judge Cobos has done nothing illegal," Botsford said. "Despite what I would suggest are obvious political reasons, he looks forward to the time when his name will be cleared."

Terán and Sariñana say they have not been involved in any solicitations or acceptance of bribes or any other illegal activity.

The charges generally cover the period from Jan. 1, when Cobos took office, to May 18, three days after FBI agents searched the offices of Cobos, Sariñana and Terán.

County Commissioner Veronica Escobar said it was stunning to her that so many examples of alleged illegal activity could occur in less than five months.

"This is the biggest story in the history of El Paso County politics," Escobar said, noting that the investigation is obviously far from over. "Much of what is contained in the charges coincides with issues I was suspicious about."

She said it was clear from the charges in the document that Ketner has implicated others.

"On the day of the FBI raid, I know he spent a long time behind closed doors with the FBI," she said. "Two days later, he resigned and got on a plane to San Antonio.

"I assumed he was in San Antonio to talk the the U.S. attorney or the grand jury because that's where the Western District of Texas is headquartered."

The charges involve, among other things, contracts to provide financial advice and services on bond issues, for consulting services to evaluate county health program proposals and a $9 million mental health program that Escobar said she had serious concerns about when they came before the County Commissioners Court.

The 18-page document refers to Ketner by name and refers to others as co-conspirator Johns and Janes by numbers.

Escobar said it was clear from the numerous references to John Co-Conspirator 1 that it is Jones; that John 2 is her estranged cousin, David Escobar; that Jane 1 is Jobe; and that Jane 2 is former County Commissioner Betti Flores.

Jones, Jobe and Flores could not be reached for comment.

David Escobar disputed the claim that he is identified in the document as the lawyer "who associated himself, in some matters" with Jones. He also denied that quotes attributed to John 2 were his and that he had anything to do with the activities described.

"None of it is true," he said.

Flores and the other elected officials referred to in the charges are described as having been helped in their election efforts by Jones.

Almost all of the individuals cited by number are easily identifiable by the actions and circumstances referred to in the 18-page document.

The first count charges that Ketner conspired and agreed with others to devise a scheme to deny El Pasoans of the "honest services" of Cobos, Sariñana and Terán and to "obtain money and property by means of material false and fraudulent pretenses, representations and promises and to use the U.S. mail to obtain contracts for the county through false and fraudulent means."

The document refers to the El Paso County Actuarial and Dental Services contract, but Commissioner Escobar said that contract is probably the county health benefits consulting service that nearly went to Roger Garza's Valley Risk Consulting Services.

The document also states that Ketner was told after Cobos hired him that his primary responsibility would be to find opportunities in which Cobos, Jones and David Escobar "could receive compensation from vendors."

David Escobar said he has had nothing to do with county vendors.

Among the overt acts described in the first count is a meeting in Cobos' office during which Cobos and Turi Duran, a member of the Thomason Hospital board, entered the small bathroom in Cobos' office where Duran promised Cobos a $2,000 campaign contribution in exchange for his vote to secure county contracts for Valley Risk Consulting.

The company's owner, Garza, could not be reached for comment. Nor could Duran.

The document alleges that Duran also promised to give $1,000 to Commissioners Sariñana and Teran for their votes.

Later, however, Valley Risk Consulting failed to make the list of the three bidders selected by the county's risk pool board for the consulting contract.

Count two involves the contract awarded to LKG, a company owned by Sonny Garcia, to evaluate the mental health services being provided to young people through the El Paso County Mental Health Collaborative, a $9 million federally funded program that the county nearly lost last year.

In that instance, Garcia was seeking protection for himself and LKG "from a referral for criminal activity, repayment to the County of El Paso of over $600,000 of fraudulently obtained federal funds and a lawsuit by the county ... to retain said funds."

Count three alleges that District Clerk Gilbert Sanchez and a former office manager, Fernando Parra, were involved in an effort to manipulate the selection of a judge in a criminal case against former County Commissioner Betti Flores.

It alleges that Jones and David Escobar were involved, a charge David Escobar denies.

Count four alleges that Ketner conspired with others, including Terán and Sariñana, to strip a bond underwriting contract from First Southwest Co., a company that the city and county have used in bond matters for years, and to award it to another company.

In April, the Commissioners Court terminated its contract with First Southwest on a 3-2 vote in which Cobos, Terán and Commissioner Dan Haggerty voted for termination.

Sariñana joined Commissioner Escobar in opposing the move.