Federal Prison Sentence Handed Down in El Paso Corruption Case
| U.S. Attorney’s Office April 20, 2011 |
United States Attorney John E. Murphy announced that in El Paso, 41-year-old Jose Gallegos was sentenced to 24 months in federal prison followed by three years of supervised release for defrauding El Paso County and depriving citizens of honest services. In addition, United States District Judge Frank Montalvo ordered Gallegos to pay a $50,000 fine.
In December 2010, Gallegos pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit mail fraud. By pleading guilty, Gallegos admitted that between May 2002 and July 2007, he and his co-defendant, 37-year-old Adrian Edward Pena, conspired to pay a $13,000 bribe to an El Paso Independent School District trustee for his help in securing contracts for subcontractors on EPISD construction projects.
Pena’s sentencing, originally scheduled for today, has been rescheduled to May 11, 2011. In December, Pena pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit mail fraud contained in two separate indictments (EP09CR2558 and EP09CR2759). Pena faces up to 20 years in federal prison per count.
This investigation—conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation—continues. Assistant United States Attorneys William F. Lewis, Jr., and Antonio Franco prosecuted this case on behalf of the government.