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A federal magistrate judge on Tuesday set the bond for the Progreso school district’s board president, who is accused of cocaine smuggling, at $250,000 with a $15,000 deposit, court records indicate.
Francisco Javier Alanis Martinez, 40, appeared before U.S. Magistrate Judge Ignacio Torteya III Tuesday morning for his detention hearing where the judge set his bond and the conditions of his release.
Torteya ordered Alanis to be placed under house arrest in Weslaco and he must not violate any federal, state or local laws while on bond. He is also not allowed to possess a firearm and must maintain or actively seek employment.
Alanis must also surrender his passport if he has one and not try to obtain one.
In addition, Alanis must participate in an electric monitoring program as directed by the U.S. Probation Office.
The bond setting comes after the superseding indictment charging Alanis was unsealed Oct. 16 which alleges that Alanis smuggled about 58 pounds of cocaine on June 13, 2020, and an additional 30 pounds of cocaine on Aug. 8, 2020.
Alanis entered a plea of not guilty last Thursday.
Prosecutors also allege that he conspired to smuggle cocaine from January 2020 to March 20, 2022.
The plea deal paperwork for Ralph Lozano, one of Alanis’ co-defendants, who pleaded guilty on May 2 to conspiracy to distribute cocaine, reveals that Border Patrol agents at the Sarita checkpoint intercepted the Aug. 8, 2020, cocaine load after Jose Rosbel Salas arrived in a semi-truck.
Salas is another co-defendant of Alanis.
“During the course of the investigation into the drug trafficking activities of Lozano, DEA and HSI agents received information that (David) Gomez-Ramos was going to send a load of approximately 12 or 13 kilograms of cocaine to Lozano,” the plea paperwork stated. “This load was to be transported in the beginning of August of 2020.”
Although that document doesn’t mention Alanis, it does say that Lozano conspired with other co-conspirators to obtain and sell cocaine.
According to federal prosecutors, Gomez-Ramos would send the cocaine from Brownsville to Lozano in Houston. It would then be distributed in Houston.
Salas pleaded guilty on May 31, 2022 and is scheduled to be sentenced in November. Lozano has also pleaded guilty.
Gomez-Ramos is scheduled to appear before U.S. District Judge Fernando Rodriguez Jr. for a final pretrial conference in late November with jury selection scheduled for early December.
Alanis’ other co-defendants remain in custody.
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>> Progreso school board president charged with drug trafficking
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