Peñitas mayor pleads guilty to fraud, agrees to pay La Joya school district $35K

Rodrigo Lopez

Peñitas Mayor Rodrigo Lopez pleaded guilty to fraud on Thursday and agreed to pay back the nearly $35,000 he fraudulently obtained from the La Joya Independent School District through the purchase of athletic gear from his company.

Lopez admitted during his re-arraignment before U.S. District Judge Micaela Alvarez that in 2018 he “aided and abetted” the La Joya Independent School District athletic director in committing fraud against the district.

The mayor was indicted on two charges for federal program theft on June 1. He was arrested 12 days later as he re-entered the country on June 13.

The following day, Lopez pleaded not guilty of bribing a La Joya Independent School District employee for the approval of about $70,010 worth of purchases from his company, Xizaka, LLC, from March 2018 through August 2018. He also denied helping the school district employee fraudulently obtain and misapply the school district funds to pay the invoices Xizaka, LLC submitted.

Lopez changed his mind this month when he entered into a plea agreement with the federal government on Aug. 1.

According to the document made public on Thursday, Lopez pleaded guilty to the second count, which says he helped a La Joya ISD employee embezzle, steal or misapply about $70,000 in district funds to pay his company’s invoices.

Lopez, through his company, responded to the district’s call for bids for athletic supply vendors, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office Southern District of Texas. Lopez was approved, but as part of the district’s purchasing procedures, he was required to disclose his personal or financial interests to the superintendent. Lopez failed to make that disclosure or submit a required conflict of interest questionnaire before entering into the deal with the district.

Under the district’s policy, any purchase that is over $15,000 must go through competitive bidding, and the state makes it a requirement for purchases of more than $50,000 to do the same.

Lopez tried to circumvent the district’s policy, as well as state law, by cutting up the total cost of the purchases into smaller invoices to avoid having to go through competitive bidding.

Lopez sold approximately 156 baseball gloves, 15,400 square feet of turf and three pitching machines to La Joya ISD between March and August 2018 and submitted over 20 separate invoices to the La Joya athletic director to help circumvent competitive procurement procedure, the news release added.

Through the fraudulent approvals, Lopez profited around $34,923.70 from the district, and in his plea agreement, he agreed to pay it back.

If Lopez fails to do so within 14 days of his guilty plea, he will have to submit a complete financial disclosure by executing a sworn financial statement within 21 days of his guilty plea.

In the event he fails to meet the deadline, he would also be asked to “assist in the collection of restitution and fines, including but not limited to surrendering title, executing warranty deeds, signing consent decrees, and signing any other documents to effectuate the transfer of any asset,” according to the plea agreement.

Once he complies, federal prosecutors will then recommend a decrease to the severity of his sentence and will dismiss the first count of the indictment.