Guilty pleas cast doubt on county

12/24/2007

By Erica Molina Johnson and David Crowder / El Paso Times

The guilty pleas entered Friday by two investment bankers who tried to bribe a number of elected officials are casting particular suspicion on Commissioners Court, which already was under scrutiny after the FBI raided the offices of three court members on May 15.

On Friday, Roberto Gerardo "Bobby" Ruiz, former managing director for bond underwriter Bear Stearns in Dallas, pleaded guilty to four combined counts of conspiracy to commit mail fraud, wire fraud and a scheme to bribe elected officials.

The entities that are listed in his plea are Commissioners Court, the El Paso Independent School District, El Paso Community College and the city of El Paso.

Ruiz's partner, Christopher Chol-Su Pak, who is known as Chris Pak, pleaded guilty to one count of engaging in a scheme to bribe an elected El Paso County commissioner.

This commissioner is referred to as a male in a news release issued by the U.S. Attorney's Office.

"There's no question it hurts us as a court," said Commissioner Dan Haggerty. "All of this reflects on all elected officials, moreso than even us.

"We are taking the hit now because we were raided, but apparently there's an awful lot of elected officials ... at every level of government," he said. "You don't know how many more people are involved in this stuff."

Friday's guilty pleas bring the total to six people who have pleaded guilty to federal charges in connection with the FBI's ongoing public corruption investigation.

County officials who have pleaded are former Commissioner Betti Flores, who admitted to trading her vote for money, and former county chief of staff, John Travis Ketner, who admitted to searching for bribes and campaign contributions from vendors trying to win or keep county contracts worth millions of dollars. Others who have pleaded guilty in the investigation include former EPISD Trustee Carlos "Coach" Cordova and architect Bernardo Lucero.

Haggerty said when bond contracts, which reach into the millions of dollars, are on the table, the issue of bribery can easily surface.

"I can see why the temptations and allegations would arise. I can't imagine being offered this kind of money," he said.

However, Haggerty, who is in his fourth term of office, said he has been offered bribes.

"I remember people coming before the code of ethics (was in place) saying, "What's it going to take to get your vote? What can I say or do to get your vote," he said. "I was too naive or plain dumb to understand what they were asking me, but I remember specific instances."

He said he was asked this several times.

"Maybe the other elected officials would say 'Oh, $5,000 or $10,000.' No one would have suspected by taking $5,000 or $10,000 you would do 20 years," Haggerty said.

Commissioner Luis Sariñana, whose office was searched in May along with the offices of County Judge Anthony Cobos and Commissioner Miguel Terán, said the entire situation is "sad."

"For the families out there so close to the holidays, I wish all this would come to an end," he said. "I don't understand why they (law enforcement officials) are doing it on an individual basis. If they have some indictments to do, they ought to wrap it up and take care of all of this."

Sariñana said although his office was among those searched, he does not have any part in the investigation.

"My attorney talked to the FBI and I was no longer a target and was never a target," he said.

Cobos and Terán could not be reached for comment Sunday.

"A lot of this thing that happened is past administrations," Sariñana said. "We are just going to have to remain focused and continue doing what we've been doing ... We have to continue doing the right thing. For people to continue to trust government we are going to have to show the community we are trying to do what's best for this community."

Haggerty said he's not convinced El Paso politicians have learned their lessons from those who have begun pleading guilty.

"I honestly do not think the message is getting across," he said.

Jorge Rodriguez, a financial adviser on bond sales whose company has been hired, fired and then rehired by Commissioners Court in recent years, said he was not surprised to see the most recent guilty pleas.

"I expected it," said Rodriguez, the president of San Antonio's Coastal Securities.

He noted that while Bear Stearns was in the hunt this year to do business with the county, it has not been involved in a bond transaction with the county for years.

"As the county's financial adviser, I would never have recommended that the county do a deal with them," Rodriguez said. "They were appointed early in the year to do a transaction for the county that never got done -- a refinancing of about $40 million in bonds."

Rodriguez said that refinancing later went through with his company as financial adviser and with Merrill Lynch and Morgan Stanley as underwriters.

At the urging of former County Judge Dolores Briones, Commissioners Court fired Rodriguez and his company with three years left on a five-year contract in 2003 and hired First Southwest of Dallas.

Earlier this year, the county fired First Southwest and rehired Coastal to handle a planned $50 million to $75 million bond issue.

 

Public corruption investigation pleadings

Six people have pleaded guilty to federal charges as part of a widespread FBI public corruption investigation that began in 2005.