Peñitas has selected a new councilman to fill the Place 1 seat formerly held by Councilman Alex Guajardo, who pleaded guilty to participating in a bribery scheme in January.
Osiel Ramos defeated Jose Luis Ochoa Jr. in the city’s special election Tuesday. Ramos received a total of 451 votes, or 57.67%, to Ochoa’s 331 total votes, or 42.33%.
Ramos joins a city council with many lingering questions after Mayor Rodrigo “Rigo” Lopez was arrested and pleaded not guilty to bribery and fraud charges in federal court last week.
The mayor is accused of bribing a La Joya Independent School District employee for the approval of about $70,010 worth of purchases from Xizaka LLC, a company that he owned, from March 2018 through August 2018.
He is also accused of allegedly helping the school district employee fraudulently obtain and misapply the school district funds to pay the invoices his company submitted.
The mayor’s arrest follows the arrest of former city manager Omar X. Romero, who in November pleaded guilty to one count of bribery related to a transaction with the Agua Special Utility District, and one count of concealing assets related to his involvement in the bankruptcy filing of Hidalgo County EMS.
In January, Place 1 Councilman Guajardo confessed to receiving up to $275,000 in bribes from co-conspirators in 2020, according to the Progress Times.
Ramos was reached for comment following his victory, but he failed to respond to calls and texts from The Monitor.
