Yzaguirre faces 23 counts in corruption probe

BROWNSVILLE — Cameron County Tax Assessor-Collector Tony Yzaguirre Jr. has been named in a 23-count indictment that charges him with bribery, abuse of official capacity, official oppression and engaging in organized criminal activity.

A Cameron County grand jury returned indictments Wednesday against Yzaguirre, Jose Mireles, Pedro Garza and Omar Sanchez Paz, who are also employed at the county tax office.

Yzaguirre was indicted on 10 counts of bribery, 11 counts of abuse of official capacity, one count of official oppression and one count of engaging in organized criminal activity.

Mireles and Garza were indicted on two counts of bribery and one count of official oppression and one count of engaging in organized criminal activity.

Omar Sanchez Paz was indicted on charges of abuse of official capacity and engaging in organized criminal activity.

Robert Garza, Yzaguirre’s defense attorney, said he was not surprised by the indictments.

“We kind of anticipated if anything because they are arguing about all this criminal activity taking place and everything else,” Garza said.

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