Votes by Flores may face new scrutiny

07/08/2007

By Darren Meritz / El Paso Times

Many of the actions former County Commissioner Betti Flores took while she was an elected official could face greater scrutiny now that she's pleaded guilty to accepting bribes, elected officials and law enforcement experts said Saturday.

"Because she took money, or has admitted to taking money, does that invalidate any of the votes we took?" asked County Commissioner Dan Haggerty, who served alongside Flores during her four years in office. "Since she took bribes for votes, does (the bidder) have any recourse? That would be my biggest concern."

County Commissioner Veronica Escobar, however, believes it is too early to consider such questions.

"I'm not privy to the information that the FBI has. I think that's why it's so important for us as a community to let the legal process run its course and not to speculate or anticipate on any more wrongdoing," Escobar said.

She urged the public to keep a positive outlook on government and the services it provides.

"People want resolution. They want closure, and I think that a lot of folks who call my office are eager to learn more about what's happening in their government."

Haggerty said County Commissioners need to take a look at whether they want to seek the attorney general's opinion on the matter of Flores' votes while in office.

"I think it's a question that needs to be answered," he said

Officials from the County Attorney's office said so much business goes through the County Courthouse that they most likely expect investigators to focus on the counts to which Flores pleaded guilty and on other suspects.

Flores, one of 17 individuals and businessmen implicated in a far-reaching alleged public corruption scheme, pleaded guilty to six counts of conspiracy to commit mail or wire fraud on Friday -- the second uncontested guilty plea in a historic FBI investigation into local government bribery, fraud and manipulation of the local judiciary.

Flores, who was a commissioner from 2003 through 2006, pleaded guilty to, among other crimes, receiving cash bribes in exchange for favorable votes on contract bid awards.

She's admitted to exchanging favorable votes for an underwriting contract for a Thomason hospital bond initiative, to receiving bribes for a favorable vote on a $20 million construction contract for the County Courthouse parking garage annex, for receiving cash bribes in exchange for a favorable vote on the sale of about 300 acres of county-owned land to a firm called Catalina Development, and for receiving campaign contributions in exchange for a favorable vote for a contract to digitize court records in the El Paso County District Clerk's office.

Flores' plea comes about a month after John Travis Ketner, former chief of staff for County Judge Anthony Cobos, pleaded guilty to his role in the conspiracy.

In an "information," which details the crimes committed, Ketner implicated perhaps dozens of elected officials and businessmen in the public corruption investigation.

Ketner's information does not name Flores as one of the co-conspirators, but does make her easily identifiable. No sentencing dates have been set for Flores or Ketner, and it is unknown whether they are in custody.

Flores, like Ketner, did not contest the charges filed against her on Friday, something that leads at least one former law enforcement official to believe the federal government could quickly move forward with indictments or similar charges.

"The two people who have been charged obviously pleaded guilty. They didn't contest the charges at all," said Richard Schwein, retired special agent in charge of the El Paso FBI Office. "Of course, no one else has been charged with anything right now, but supposition is that more people will."

Schwein cautioned that details in public corruption cases typically take time to unfold, but added that because neither Ketner nor Flores contested the cases against them, prosecutors might have solid evidence against unindicted co-conspirators.

"Major corruption cases often take a long time because you're building a brick-by-brick case and you're talking about massive amounts of documents that have to be examined," Schwein said. "It's a very complex investigation, and certainly when you're doing something like this, you want to make sure you have an ironclad case."

Several public officials said that Flores' pleas reinforce the prospect that indictments of higher ranking people in the alleged conspiracy could be charged with crimes -- sooner rather than later.

Larry Medina, a former City Council representative and a former county commissioner, described Flores as the latest "canary" who likely was forthcoming with evidence about other suspects in exchange for leniency in sentencing.

"When it comes to individuals, especially with individuals who plead quickly, the first thing that comes to my mind is, what else has been tainted? Who else is out there," asked Medina, who currently sits on the board of the El Paso Housing Authority. "I mean, when there's a bribee, there's a briber."