McALLEN — Moments before former La Joya Mayor Jose A. “Fito” Salinas was set to face a federal jury trial, he struck a deal to plead guilty to one count of wire fraud in the second superseding indictment and avoided the proceedings entirely.
At roughly 11 a.m. Monday, Salinas was led into U.S. District Judge Randy Crane’s courtroom. A technical issue was delaying the proceedings for his federal trial on wire fraud charges related to a federal bribery investigation.
Jurors were led in momentarily, only to be told to leave for an early lunch and return at 1 p.m.
During this break, at roughly 12:30 p.m., Salinas and his attorney conferred with government prosecutors and reached a plea agreement.
An attorney for Sylvia Garces Valdez, a co-defendant who also faces fraud charges and was set to testify in the trial Monday morning, confirmed that Salinas had pleaded guilty and that he and Garces were told they would not be needed for the trial.
Garces, who has pleaded not guilty to wire fraud charges, is the former public relations consultant for the city at the heart of Salinas’ case and is expected back in court at the end of the month for her final pretrial hearing, records show.
The case revolves on events beginning in the summer of 2018, when La Joya agreed to pay Garces, an acquaintance of Frances A. Salinas, Fito’s daughter, to act as the city’s public relations representative.
Frances A. Salinas, the former La Joya Housing Authority interim executive director, pleaded guilty to a wire fraud charge in June in the case.
According to count 3 of the third superseding indictment, Fito Salinas is accused of selling his property to the city of La Joya at a marked-up price by means of fraud.
According to court records, Fito Salinas, who lived adjacent to the city’s cemetery, entered into an agreement with the city to sell his property near the cemetery in January 2016.
The indictment alleges Salinas used “false and fraudulent pretenses,” when the land he sold, valued at roughly $70,000 by the county’s appraisers, was sold back to La Joya for nearly three times that amount, records show.
Additionally, Fito was charged for wire fraud for a scheme involving a loan from the Economic Development Corporation to a daycare in La Joya, court documents show.
Fito Salinas, who is free on bond, will remain on bond pending his sentencing hearing, currently set for late September.
Editor’s note: This story was updated to correct information pertaining to the case and the defendants.
