Arturo "Tury" Duran, a member of El Paso's Thomason Hospital board, has gone from being a presidential appointee in 2004 to being identified as the "bag man" in the federal conspiracy case against John Travis Ketner, the former chief of staff for County Judge Anthony Cobos.

Duran, who was appointed in January 2004 by President Bush to head the International Boundary and Water Commission only to be forced out 20 months later, is identified as one of 17 uncharged co-conspirators in the charges against Ketner by the U.S. Attorney's Office.

Ketner pleaded guilty Friday to four counts of conspiracy to commit bribery, wire fraud and mail fraud.

Duran said it would do him little good to publicly proclaim his innocence now and that he would follow the advice of his lawyer, former district judge Luis Aguilar, and say nothing one way or the other.

"To me, my position is to wait and let the federal investigators do their job," he said. "I just can't comment on that document (federal charges).

"It's very strong. It puts a lot of people in a very difficult position. I am in a very difficult position in that document."

The Ketner document identifies Duran as John Co-Conspirator 7 and states that he represented two companies, Valley Risk Consulting and Dannenbaum Construction, seeking contracts from County Commissioners Court.

Duran, it states, "acted as an intermediary and 'bag man' for VRC and DC making and promising to make payments in cash or as campaign contributions to elected county officials to secure future contracts with the county of El Paso."

The document states that Duran was present at a January meeting in Cobos' office with Cobos, Valley Risk's president, Rogelio "Roger" Garza, and an individual representing Dannenbaum Construction.

During the meeting, it states, Duran and Cobos "entered the small bathroom located within" Cobos' office.

"In the bathroom, (Duran), acting on behalf of VRC and DC, promised (Cobos) a $2,000 campaign contribution in exchange for (Cobos') votes to secure contracts for VRC and DC," the document states.

Duran, it states, told Cobos he would also make make $1,000 contributions to commissioners Luis Sariñana and Miguel Terán for their votes.

Neither Garza nor a representative of Dannenbaum Construction could be reached for comment on the allegations in the Ketner document.

On Jan. 25, it states, Duran gave Terán $2,000 from Garza to vote for Valley Risk on a contract related to the county health benefits program.

But, it later turned out that Valley Risk was not among the top three companies recommended by the county Purchasing Department for the contract, so commissioners never voted on it directly.

Sariñana said he met with Garza but did not recall receiving a campaign contribution on his behalf.

Terán said he did not accept a $2,000 contribution from Garza.

"I do remember receiving a check for $2,000, but I immediately returned it," Terán said. "But, it was not intended as a bribe or quid pro quo. I don't accept checks for over $1,000."

Duran said he will not give in to calls for his resignation from the Thomason board of managers, in part because he still has important issues to raise regarding the hospital, its board and management.

The first round of demands that Duran step down came after he was named in a federal search warrant as being one of the 22 individuals and companies that the FBI was interested in.

That search warrant was the basis for the FBI's May 15 search of the County Courthouse offices of Cobos, Sariñana and Terán and the homes of Terán and Duran.

"I am not stepping down," Duran said. "I will wait for the FBI to do its job. I might resign at some point, but not because somebody says I should resign."

El Paso County Commissioner Veronica Escobar said, "I feel even more strongly now that Arturo Duran should resign, and the community should speak up."

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