Corplan Rap Sheet

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Coryell County Jail, Gatesville, Texas
November 13, 2006 Killeen Daily Herald
A Willacy County official has a word of caution for the Coryell County Commissioners' Court as it considers a private prison vendor as a remedy for its overcrowded jail facility. "Have your sheriff talk to our sheriff. He will let you know what kind of problems he is having," said Juan Guerra, who pulls double duty as both county and district attorney in Willacy County. Guerra said his county has struggled through criminal investigations that saw two of its county commissioners convicted, and it is also is in danger of defaulting on a bond payment because it hasn't received enough federal prisoners to generate the needed revenue to sustain the facility. Coryell County Commissioners are expected to open a proposal from Innovative Government Strategies to construct and operate a jail facility when they meet in regular session at 10 a.m. Monday in the Coryell County Courthouse. According to the documents turned in by Innovative Government Strategies, the proposed project team includes James Parkey, with Corplan Corrections Inc., for developer, Hale-Mills for construction company, Municipal Capital Markets Group for financing, Deborah L. Williams for architecture and engineering and CiviGenics-Texas Inc. for management and operations. Coryell County Attorney Brandon Belt previously expressed concern about the proposed operator, saying that CiviGenics had been at the center of controversy recently. However, it is not just CiviGenics that has a troubled past. The commissioners' consideration of the group comes just days after a federal judge sentenced former Willacy County Commissioner Israel Tamez to six months in jail for his role in a bribery scandal connected to a $14.5 million prison project to construct a U.S. Marshals Service jail. On Nov. 9, U.S. District Judge Andrew Hanen handed down the sentence and also gave Tamez three years' probation and imposed a $25,000 fine. Tamez and former Commissioner Jose Jimenez, who died of cancer before being sentenced, pleaded guilty in January 2005 to taking more than $10,000 in kickbacks, Guerra said. Former Webb County Commissioner David Cortez also was involved in the scandal and was convicted in March 2005 of funneling the bribes to the Willacy County commissioners in exchange for their votes to hire a consultant in the prison project, Guerra said. Cortez is scheduled to be sentenced Nov. 20. "My understanding was, as far as implicating the company, it has not been implicated, but the commissioners have been convicted," Guerra said. "Our records indicate that when (Cortez) came before the commissioners when this happened four years ago, he represented himself as a private consultant for Corplan." In May 2005, Willacy County, on Guerra's instructions, filed a civil suit against Corplan and Hale-Mills alleging that the two companies were parties to the bribery. The suit later was dismissed, Guerra said. Guerra said he could not say whether a federal investigation was still pending, and U.S. District Court offices were closed Friday for the federal holiday. Willacy County Sheriff Larry Spence could not be reached either. Guerra said the lack of competitive bids when Willacy was building its third federal facility – against his advice and despite the criminal implications – was not only suspect, but something that possibly lost Willacy County millions. "No one is checking to see if you are getting your money's worth," he said. "Because we don't know if that facility cost $50 million to construct." In fact, Guerra said according to information he received from experts, the project, which was for a facility to house Immigration and Customs Enforcement detainees, could have been done for between $30 and $35 million. "The information that I got, from experts that reviewed the expenses, says they could not justify the $50 million. They padded the construction costs by an extra $20 to $15 million," Guerra said. "What is funny you get commissioners that are indicted for taking $10,000. I am just wondering who are the real crooks?"

Hall County Corrections
Hall, Nebraska
Corplan
June 4, 2003
At the same time Hall County is trying to decide whether a new county jail should be funded publicly or privately, Grand Island Area Economic Development Corp. President Monty Montgomery is working for a private prison firm -- the same firm he recommended to Hall County supervisors. "I have a debt of honor to them," Montgomery said of Corplan Corrections of Argyle, Texas. "I do it on my own time, and I don't do it on business time." Montgomery first introduced Corplan Corrections to the Hall County Board of Supervisors in 2001, after starting work as president of the Grand Island Area Economic Development Corp. that July. That same year, he also arranged and accompanied four supervisors on a tour of a 1,097-bed jail Corplan worked on in Garza County, Texas, just southeast of Lubbock. Corplan worked on a similar but smaller 548-bed jail in Haskell, Texas, where Montgomery was then economic development director. Montgomery said it was that association with Corplan officials, a more than four-year effort, that led to his "debt of honor." Because Corplan worked with Haskell for no pay for four years before the community finally settled on and constructed the privately funded jail, Montgomery feels a need to return the commitment. "I'm helping friends of mine," Montgomery said of why he represents Corplan County supervisors most recently toured jails in Kansas and Iowa in pursuit of construction and operational ideas. However, the county is awaiting an attorney general's opinion on whether a private jail is even a legal option for the county. Besides pitching Corplan Corrections to Hall County, Montgomery has also represented the firm to Huron, S.D., which is considering a jail there. (The Independent)

March 12, 2003
A dozen Hall county corrections staff members listened on Tuesday as the spokesman of a national organization opposing private jails and prisons told the Hall County Board of Supervisors why such facilities pose a threat to the public, jail staff and inmates. "I think it hit the nail on the head," Hall County corrections Cpl. Tom Hansen said of the presentation. "They are unsafe entity and are unsafe in your community," Brian Dawe, executive director of Corrections USA, told the board about private jails. In a passionate and well-rehearsed 20-minute presentation, Dawe cited studies from the Federal Bureau of Prisons, the U.S. Marshals Service and academicians detailing that private prisons cost more and have more escapes, riots and assaults that publicly run jails. "Our concern is the operator -- are we government employees or private company employees?" Hansen told The Independent. "We're not about to jeopardize our homes and property." (The Independent)

Smith County Jail, Smith County, Texas
November 7, 2005 Tyler Morning Telegraph
Smith County commissioners picked Lee Lewis Construction Inc. of Lubbock, along with Dallas architects Wiginton Hooker Jeffry PC, with which to enter into negotiations for the design and construction of a new Smith County Jail. In Monday's meeting of the Smith County Commissioners Court, Commissioner JoAnn Hampton explained that the three private firms that responded to the recent Request for Proposals were evaluated according to a specific set of criteria. The next highest was Correctional Services Corporation, with a score of 55, she said. Hale-Mills received 51 points. The court, with Gary's help, also looked at the potential legal entanglements of each of the three firms, after they were forced to reject an early RFP due to the legal troubles of bidder CorPlan.

August 25, 2005 Tyler Morning Herald
If the instructions weren't explicit enough before, Smith County officials say, they'll make it perfectly clear: The private firms offering proposals to build a new jail complex must disclose all their legal troubles immediately. Assistant District Attorney Michael Gary will send a letter on Friday, he told attendees at a public hearing on the jail that county commissioners held in Lindale on Thursday. Smith County officials are wary of such lawsuits because in July, they threw out a proposal by Corplan Corrections for a new facility after learning of a growing scandal in Willacy County. Their vote was not based on the bribery-related convictions of three county officials there, but on the "contingent liability" of a lawsuit filed in May against Corplan and Hale-Mills Construction by Willacy County. They wish to avoid any more such surprises, they say. The private proposals were one issue that emerged at the public hearing attended by more than two dozen citizens at the county offices in Lindale. Sheriff J.B. Smith began the hearing with a brief presentation on jail overcrowding, followed by County Judge Becky Dempsey explaining what overcrowding is doing to the county's finances.

August 24, 2005 Tyler Morning Telegraph
A general partner of Hale-Mills Construction says his firm's proposal to build a criminal justice complex for Smith County is in full compliance with the county's request for proposals, and that a lawsuit filed by Willacy County alleging that his firm conspired to bribe officials there will soon "dry up and blow away." Smith County commissioners have expressed concern that not one of the five proposals submitted last week included the disclosure about lawsuits and criminal charges that they asked for in the request for proposals. And all five lead firms have either sued or been sued over construction projects or jail operations in that period. The merit of the lawsuits filed by or faced by each of the companies is not the issue, county commissioners say; it's that they didn't tell the county about the lawsuits when asked in the RFPs. In July, Smith County threw out a proposal by Corplan Corrections for a new facility after they learned of a growing scandal in Willacy County. Their vote was not based on the bribery-related convictions of three county officials there, but on the "contingent liability" of a lawsuit filed in May against Corplan and Hale-Mills by Willacy County. The lawsuit claims that Corplan and Hale-Mills conspired to bribe county commissioners, to be selected for a $14.5 million project.

June 27, 2005
It's no longer a choice between public and private, Smith County officials say - it's a matter of combining the best of both to come up with a workable solution to jail overcrowding. In Monday's jail workshop session, county commissioners agreed in principle that a new jail should be publicly financed, privately built and run by the county. County Judge Becky Dempsey added, "It's more cost effective for us to do our own financing." That's because generally, government entities can borrow money more cheaply. Corplan, when discussing financing the facility itself, cited an interest rate of 5.125 percent. Smith County, on the other hand, could get an interest rate of 4.8 percent or less. Over the 20-year life of millions of dollars worth of bonds, that extra point of interest would add up. "Just a slight difference in interest rates over 20 years could prove quite costly," Judge Dempsey said.

Willacy County Adult Correctional Facility, Raymondville, Texas
August 28, 2007 Valley Morning Star
Willacy County Commissioner Aurelio Guerra on Monday questioned a contract that could pay more than $27 million to the company that runs an illegal immigrant detention center here. Wednesday, members of the Willacy County Local Government Corp., the non-profit organization that oversees the 2,000-bed detention center, will travel to Dallas to close a deal that’s expected to hire Management Training Corp. to run a 1,000-bed expansion. The $111.5 million contract with the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement would pay Utah-based MTC a “fixed annual fee” of $27.4 million when the detention center’s average monthly inmate count falls below 2,500, the contract states. The government would pay MTC $27.4 million plus $4.42 a head for each illegal immigrant when the detention center’s average monthly inmate count exceeds the 2,500 mark, the contract states. “It can be one inmate and we’re obligated to pay $27 million,” Guerra said. “In past agreements, there weren’t fixed fees.” Under a current agreement, a federal contract pays MTC $27.75 a head for each illegal immigrant held in the 2,000-bed detention center that averages about 1,500 detainees a month. But the contract does not bind the county to pay MTC $27.4 million a year, said Michael Harling of Municipal Capital Markets Group in Dallas. The contract would not tap into the revenue that the county needs to repay its debt, Harling said. First, the government’s money will go to pay the county’s debt, Harling said. Then it will go to pay the county, he said. “To the extent there is enough money, they will pay MTC,” Harding said.

February 25, 2007 AP
The engine of the old, borrowed camper chugs away in the parking lot of the county jail – three goats, a rooster and a horse alongside. It is the temporary home and office of Willacy County District Attorney Juan Angel Guerra. Mr. Guerra, 52, has brought down public officials and continues investigations. Most recently, he filed – and then dropped – motions to have the sheriff and two elected officials removed from office. Now, he says, they're all out to get him. A special prosecutor raided his office recently and filed public theft charges against Mr. Guerra. They were dropped Friday. Depending on whom you talk to, Mr. Guerra is either a lone-wolf champion for South Texas justice or a chronic malcontent with some shady dealings of his own. "He's just been fighting with us for so many years," said Paul Cowan, chief of staff for state Sen. Eddie Lucio. "Anything you want to do, he wants to fight it, fight it, fight it. We have no problems working with any other officials. The problem lies with him." In 1991, with just two years' experience practicing law in a mechanic's garage, county commissioners appointed Mr. Guerra to fill in after the incumbent district attorney died. He began investigating the big landowners and business owners for crimes such as embezzlement and receiving double federal payments for fictitious crop losses. Now, Mr. Guerra has gone after the contractors involved in building private jails. County, state and federal lockups, and now the huge pods of the 2,000-bed immigration detention center, make a bleak campus on the former farmland. Mr. Guerra's investigation into a bribery scheme involving federal prison contracts led to guilty pleas by three former Willacy and Webb county commissioners. Mr. Guerra now says he wants to know more about Mr. Lucio's consulting contract for the prison company that built the $60 million federal complex of tent-like domes. Mr. Lucio said Mr. Guerra was upset about legislation he passed that left the county with only one state district judge – Migdalia Lopez, one of the officials Mr. Guerra wanted out of office. Mr. Lucio would not disclose his consulting fees for the prison deal but said they were "modest" and legal. He said the prison had been a win for the county. "We've brought more than a thousand jobs to that county, and Johnny Guerra has not brought one," he said. Mr. Guerra says another company was prepared to build the facility for $35 million. "In six weeks they spent $60 million," he said. "There's no way that thing cost $60 million." Two weeks ago, Mr. Guerra skipped court to go to Austin and look for a sympathetic ear. When he came back, a special prosecutor appointed by Judge Lopez had taken Mr. Guerra's computers and many of his files. Mr. Guerra now maintains he can't do his work. According to Judge Lopez's order appointing the special prosecutor, a grand jury complained that Mr. Guerra was pressuring them for an indictment in a sexual harassment case. The special prosecutor is Gustavo Garza, Mr. Guerra's four-time political opponent. Mr. Garza recently charged Mr. Guerra with three counts of felony theft by a public servant and one misdemeanor obstruction charge for trying to prevent officers from searching his office, but a judge Friday dropped the charges. Mr. Guerra has threatened to dismiss hundreds of cases in retaliation, but so far only four have been dropped. Townspeople don't know what to make of it. "It's a mess," said Polo Gracida, who came to watch court on Tuesday. "I don't know whether he's a hero or not. We're definitely due for a change."

November 22, 2006 Express-News
The last of three county commissioners who pleaded guilty to a $39,000 bribery scandal involving contracts for a new federal detention facility in the Rio Grande Valley has been sentenced. Former Webb County Commissioner David Cortez, 72, of Laredo was sentenced Tuesday in federal court in Brownsville to three months in prison for funneling the bribes in 2002 to former Willacy County Commissioners Jose Jimenez of Sebastian and Israel Tamez, 60, of Raymondville in exchange for favorable votes in the selection of contracts for the 500-bed federal detention center here. U.S. District Judge Andrew Hanen also ordered Cortez to a two-year term of supervised release, including six months of house arrest. He was fined $25,000. Jimenez died before sentencing. Tamez, 60, was sentenced to six months in prison, three years of supervised release and a $25,000 fine. All three had faced 20 years in prison. Sheriff Larry Spence said the case had "drug out for so long." "I was surprised of the sentencing, but at the same time I am glad that they are getting finalized," he said. But it's still unclear if the case is over because authorities haven't made public where the money originated. Authorities have requested anyone else involved to come forward like the commissioners did, but no additional arrests have been made. A spokeswoman for the U.S. attorney's office in Houston declined to comment. Officials have said the companies hired to either design, build or manage the facility, which opened in 2003, were the Dallas-area firms CorPlan Corrections LTD and Aguirre Inc., along with Management Training Corp. of Centerville, Utah, and Hale-Mills Construction of Houston. Municipal Capital Markets Group Inc, of Dallas, underwrote the bonds. "It seems like all the people that have investigated this thing, if there was somebody else in there that they would have been found," said Mike Harling, executive vice president of the investment firm. He said public records showed Cortez was hired by CorPlan, but he suspected he could have made the bribe on his own will. No company employees have been charged. "Just because you hire somebody, and hire in the liberal sense, doesn't mean that you are responsible," Harling said. "If you haven't asked them to go out and bribe somebody, if they choose to do that and choose not to tell you, what can you say?" Cortez resigned from the Webb commission at the time of his guilty plea in 2005. Webb County Judge Louis Bruni said the case is a sad example of a bad decision.

November 9, 2006 AP
A former Willacy County commissioner was sentenced to six months in federal prison Thursday for taking bribes in return for votes on a federal prison contract. Israel Tamez, 60, of Raymondville, also must pay a $25,000 fine and serve three years probation after his release. Tamez and former Willacy County Commissioner Jose Jimenez of Sebastian pleaded guilty in January 2005 to conspiracy to commit bribery. Tamez admitted receiving cash payments totaling $10,000 for voting to select particular companies to design, build, maintain and manage the prison. Charges against Jimenez were dismissed earlier this year after he died.

July 23, 2006 Express News
The Willacy County attorney is speaking out against his county's new contract for a massive detention center because he said it involves companies still under a cloud from the 2004 bribery convictions of three elected officials. Juan Angel Guerra also accuses veteran Sen. Eddie Lucio Jr., D-Brownsville, of going back on his word by continuing to represent the same firms. Former Willacy County Commissioners Israel Tamez and the late Jose Jimenez were convicted in 2004 of accepting bribes in exchange for favorable votes regarding a 600-bed prison that opened in Raymondville, the county seat, in 2003. The third convicted official, Webb County Commissioner David Cortez, was an associate of CorPlan Corrections, a consulting company at the time of the prison project. Cortez was accused of funneling the bribe money for favorable votes on contracts. No company employees, however, have been charged. Federal prosecutors wouldn't comment on the case, but observers believe the investigation is ongoing because the commissioners' sentencing dates have been pushed back several times. Meanwhile, the same firms are building a 2,000-bed detention facility near the same prison. Willacy commissioners voted 3-2 on Monday to approve $60.6 million in bonds for the new facility, which is on a fast-track construction schedule to house mostly non-Mexican undocumented immigrants in a series of tentlike structures for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE. Utah-based Management Training Corp., or MTC, will operate the facility; Houston-based Hale-Mills Construction Inc. is building it; and Argyle-based CorPlan is consulting on the project, said Guerra, who is the county and district attorney. A May 27, 2005, letter from commissioners to the county's nonprofit corporation set up to oversee the federal prison project asked it to "terminate its contractual relationship with CorPlan," because a Willacy County lawsuit against the firm alleged it was involved with the bribes. "Now they are asking me to sign a contract that includes CorPlan," Guerra said. "I told the commissioners you can't have it both ways. First you pass the resolution saying you don't want to deal with CorPlan. Now you do a contract that I know for a fact includes CorPlan. So we are back to square one." The lawsuit was dropped in April. County Judge Simon Salinas said he wasn't aware of the letter and resolution that prompted it. It's probably too late anyway, he added. "The contract is already signed, the work is already begun," he said. Regardless, Salinas said, the county can't proceed under the assumption that leaders of the companies are criminals. "In this country we are innocent until proven guilty," he said. "And nobody out there pressed charges against the companies. ... Just because these (commissioners) plead guilty doesn't mean everybody in the world is guilty." Guerra favored Tennessee-based Corrections Corporation of America, or CCA, which offered to finance the detention facility on its own rather than through the county. He said the commissioners initially favored CCA, but later picked MTC. Commissioner Noe Loya said Guerra "is trying to find every excuse to hire CCA, and change our minds, but it's over." Guerra said he met with Lucio two weeks ago and the veteran lawmaker pushed MTC. "I asked him, 'Are you talking to me as my senator or as an employee of one of these companies?'" Guerra said. "He told me he was talking to me as a consultant." Lucio said he met with Guerra because it "appeared that he had quite a bit of influence on the Commissioners Court." Lucio said he told Guerra he favored MTC because it treats its employees well. Lucio said he thought CorPlan had been cleared because the lawsuit filed on behalf of Willacy County against James Parkey, president of CorPlan, was dropped and there have been no other arrests. Parkey did not return a call seeking comment. "My main focus on talking with Johnny (Guerra) was trying to sell him on the fact that MTC was a very reputable company," Lucio said. "I feel very comfortably speaking on their behalf and asking them to consider us and that was my main focus." According to the Texas Ethics Commission, Lucio reported in 2005 that MTC and CorPlan paid him a total of at least $50,000 through his Brownsville company, Rio Shelters Inc. In the wake of the bribery scandal, Lucio said he had stopped representing the firms and wouldn't again until the matter was cleared up. "I know there has been a case, a problem, a situation there where somebody associated with (Parkey) out of Laredo was indicted and convicted," Lucio said, referring to Cortez. "But when the lawsuit against him was dropped, I felt that he was exonerated." Told that the bribery investigation may still be open, he said: "If it is, I am not aware of it." Asked if he was being paid by MTC or CorPlan for encouraging the detention center contract, he said: "It's up to them if they feel I did a good job." Lucio said it was "very hard to draw a fine line" between his job as a lawmaker and his private work, but added: "I can tell you this: I do my best." "I get paid $600 a month to be a state senator, and I do it just about on a full-time basis," he said. Damon Hiniger, a vice president of CCA in Tennessee, said he was surprised by the county's decision because CCA was going to invest its own money, pay about $1.8 million in property taxes, and shoulder the risk. Judge Salinas said he was influenced by the bottom line, nothing more. "I have nothing against CCA, they are a good reputable company, but they are in the business to make their own bucks," he said. The detention facility is to open Aug. 1 with 500 beds, and then have 1,500 more available Oct. 1. It is part of President Bush's Secure Border Initiative.

May 25, 2005 Valley Star
Willacy County commissioners will request that the Willacy County Public Facilities Corp. break its contract with a company that is a defendant in a county lawsuit. But rankled members of the Public Facilities Corp. (PFC) said they would stand by their vote to hire Corplan Corrections, a prison consultant in Irving. If PFC members refuse the request, commissioners could remove them, County Attorney Juan Angel Guerra said Tuesday, following commissioners’ request on Monday that the PFC terminate its contract with Corplan Corrections. On May 12, the PFC voted to hire Corplan to begin work on a 500-bed addition to a $14.5 million federal prison. The project’s cost had not been estimated, officials said. On May 13, Willacy County filed a lawsuit against Corplan and Hale Mills Inc., the contractor in the prison project. Willacy County formed the PFC as a nonprofit organization charged with the development of the prison project. In the lawsuit filed by attorney Ramon Garcia, the Hidalgo County judge, Willacy County claims illegal action voided the contract that led to the prison’s construction. The prison project has been the focus of an ongoing federal bribery investigation that has led to the convictions of two former Willacy County commissioners and a former Webb County commissioner.

May 21, 2005 Valley Star
The Willacy County Public Facilities Corp.’s decision to hire a company that is a defendant in a Willacy County lawsuit could jeopardize the case, District Attorney Juan Angel Guerra said Friday. On May 12, the Public Facilities Corp. hired Corplan Corrections to expand the $14.5 million federal prison, a project that sparked a bribery scandal that led to the convictions of two former Willacy County commissioners and a former Webb County commissioner. The move would lead to the construction of a 500-bed addition to the prison, which opened with 500 beds in late 2003. The project’s cost had not been estimated, officials said. A day later, on May 13, Willacy County filed a lawsuit against Corplan, an Irving consulting firm, and Hale Mills Inc., a Houston contractor, claiming illegal action voided the contract that led to the prison’s construction. "It’s premature to enter into further contracts with those companies, especially with a pending lawsuit," Guerra said. Willacy County formed the Public Facilities Corp. as a nonprofit organization charged with development of the prison project. The Public Facilities Corp. owns the prison. Attorney Ramon Garcia, the Hidalgo County judge who filed the lawsuit on behalf of Willacy County, declined to comment on whether the Public Facilities Corp.’s action jeopardized the lawsuit. "I’ve been hired to represent parties regarding the facility that’s already been constructed," said Garcia, who Guerra said was working on a contingent fee that would pay him 40 percent of any damages awarded. "These are separate and distinct transactions." In the lawsuit, Willacy County claims former Webb County Commissioner David Cortez worked as a consultant to the two companies when he funneled about $39,000 to "several" Willacy County commissioners. In turn, former Willacy County Commissioners Israel Tamez and Jose Jimenez agreed to vote to select the companies for the project, the lawsuit claims. In March, U.S. District Judge Andrew Hanen convicted Cortez of funneling about $39,000 in bribes to "several" Willacy County commissioners in exchange for their votes to hire a consultant in the prison project. In January, Hanen convicted Tamez and Jimenez after they pleaded guilty to taking more than $10,000 in bribes in the project. An ongoing federal and state investigation is expected to lead to charges against at least one other Willacy County elected official, authorities have said.

May 18, 2005 AP
Willacy County has filed a lawsuit against two companies involved in a $14.5 million federal prison project that became entwined in a bribery scheme. The civil lawsuit was filed last week in state district court against Corplan Corrections of Argyle and Hale Mills Inc. of Houston. The suit claims the companies conspired to bribe county commissioners to select them for the construction project. Although the lawsuit does not specify damages, District Attorney Juan Angel Guerra said the financially troubled county could get title to the prison. "The contract would be null and void, so technically the prison would end up belonging to the county free of charge," Guerra said in Thursday editions of the Valley Morning Star in Harlingen.

March 25, 2005 San Antonio Express-News
A third former South Texas county commissioner charged in connection with a bribery scandal surrounding a detention facility in the Rio Grande Valley was convicted Thursday in Brownsville. Authorities said others could be charged. David Cortez, 70, of Laredo, a former Webb County commissioner, was charged, pleaded guilty and was convicted Thursday of conspiring to "obstruct, delay and affect commerce" for his role in helping secure a contract for the Willacy County Adult Correctional Center in Raymondville. He waived his right to have a grand jury investigate. The charge accused him of funneling at least $39,000 to help a consulting firm get part of the job. Cortez is cooperating with the FBI in an ongoing investigation, authorities said. He was released on a personal recognizance bond and is scheduled to be sentenced June 28. He faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in federal prison. The name of the consulting company he secured the bids for was not released. Two former Willacy County commissioners, Jose Jimenez of Sebastian and Israel Tamez of Raymondville, pleaded guilty Jan. 4 to accepting bribes of $10,000 or more for their votes awarding contracts to build the 500-bed detention facility used for federal inmates. Willacy County Sheriff Larry Spence said the Dallas-area firms CorPlan Corrections LTD and Aguirre Inc., along with Management & Training Corp. of Centerville, Utah, and Hale-Mills Construction of Houston, were the companies hired to either design, build or manage the Raymondville facility, which opened in 2003. "Most of these guys have worked together on several projects," Spence said. Asked to confirm that Cortez had worked for CorPlan, the firm's director, James Parkey, said by phone, "I have no comment on that. Obviously that's a tickly subject and I could refer you to my attorney." According to a charging document, "several Willacy County commissioners did solicit and receive things of value" from Cortez "in exchange for providing advantages not available to others interested in and competing for the selection of a consultant" for the facility. "It was further part of the conspiracy that several Willacy County commissioners did agree to tacitly and implicitly to provide (Cortez) and other corporate representatives with assurances in their capacity" as commissioners, that Cortez and the company he represented "would receive favorable consideration" in exchange for money, the document states. The commissioners agreed to accept the money in June 2000 and were paid around October 2002, according to court records.

February 10, 2005 Valley Star
Willacy County officials are "disappointed" in the U.S. Marshals Service’s placement of inmates in the federal prison that they built to bolster the county budget, County Judge Simon Salinas said Wednesday. This week, the inmate count stood at about 313 in the 500-bed prison, up from an average of about 260 from October to December, Sheriff Larry Spence said. But county officials had based their $3.8 million general fund budget on near-capacity inmate counts projected to generate $300,000. "They’re hitting us in the pocketbook," Salinas said. As part of an agreement, Management & Training Corp., the private firm that runs the prison, pays the county $2 a day for each federal inmate housed in the county-owned prison. County officials expected the inmate count to jump after last month’s meeting with U.S. Marshal Ben Reyna. Jan. 4, Spence and State Sen. Eddie Lucio, D-Brownsville, traveled to Reyna’s office in Washington, D.C., to discuss the drop in inmates. Lucio participated as a consultant to Management & Training Corp., the company that manages the prison. A year-end money crunch led the Marshals Service to transfer inmates to jails with lower housing costs, Spence said. In 2000, county commissioners entered into a contract to build the $14.5 million prison after the Marshals Service solicited the construction of a South Texas prison to hold its inmates. The prison opened in October 2003. Last month, a U.S. district judge convicted former County Commissioners Israel Tamez and Jose Jimenez after they pleaded guilty to taking more than $10,000 in kickbacks in the prison project.

February 7, 2005 San Antonio Express-News
State Sen. Eddie Lucio Jr., D-Brownsville, made the right decision by suspending his business ties, even if only temporarily, with three contractors connected to a federal detention facility at the center of a criminal investigation in the Rio Grande Valley. He should make it permanent. In announcing his decision, the South Texas legislator said he did not want any misperceptions about his business dealings. Lucio, president and CEO of Rio Shelters Inc. a marketing and advertising agency, has been on the payroll of the three companies involved in that public construction project for several years. His primary job was to introduce company officials to power brokers in the Rio Grande Valley. In interviews with the Brownsville Herald, Lucio said he has worked with CorPlan Corrections of Argyle, Aguirre Inc. of Dallas and the Management and Training Corp. of Centerville, Utah, since 1999 earning about $100,000 a year. If that is so, why didn't his employment with the three companies appear on his financial disclosure statements filed with the state until 2004? Lucio is correct when he says it is all about perception for a politician, and omitting vital information about his employers on his state officeholder reports raises serious questions.

January 20, 2005 Brownsville Herald
State Sen. Eddie Lucio Jr. on Tuesday temporarily suspended his consulting work for three companies involved with constructing and managing a Willacy County federal detention center — the focus of a federal bribery investigation. Lucio, D-Brownsville, told The Brownsville Herald on Wednesday that he has taken a “leave of absence” from representing James Parkey’s CorPlan Corrections of Argyle, Pedro Aguirre’s Aguirre Corp. of Dallas, and J.C. Conner’s Management and Training Corp. (MTC) of Georgetown, until the federal inquiry in Willacy County concludes. Lucio said he would reassess the relationship with the firms that pay him about $100,000 a year combined. The federal investigation already has resulted in the Jan. 4 convictions of Willacy County commissioners Jose Jimenez of Sebastian and Israel Tamez of Raymondville for accepting at least $10,000 in bribes in exchange for their votes in awarding contracts for the center’s construction. U.S. Attorney Michael Shelby has not charged the corporate representatives who allegedly bribed Jimenez and Tamez. Companies involved in the project also have not been accused of any wrongdoing. Lucio said Wednesday that he has been on CorPlan’s payroll since 1999 and that the other two firms soon contracted him. He wouldn’t say when or how much each specifically has paid him for marketing the firms and introducing them to public officials. The Herald found, however, that it was not until 2004 that Lucio reported the companies in his financial statements. Asked if he believed that the companies would pay him more than $100,000 a year were he not a senator, Lucio said that “it might seem like a lot of money, and it is in our area of the state, but there are senators and representatives that are making much more money on one case than I do in one year. So, I am not ashamed of what I make. I worked for that.”

January 13, 2005 Valley Morning Star
State Sen. Eddie Lucio on Wednesday stood behind his work as a consultant for a company involved in a $14.5 million federal prison project in Willacy County. Last week, Lucio was working as a consultant for Corplan Corrections and Management & Training Corp. (MTC) when he went to Washington D.C., to discuss a recent drop in the federal prison’s inmate count with U.S. Marshals Service Director Ben Reyna. The prison project has become the subject of an investigation that led to the conviction of two Willacy County officials of taking bribes from at least one of the companies involved in the design and construction of the prison, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. No company has been named as the source of the bribes. The prison has been struggling to maintain the number of federal inmates it houses. A decline in the number has hurt Willacy County financially. The county for months has been struggling to keep from plunging into debt. MTC requested the meeting with Reyna, Willacy County Sheriff Larry Spence said, since the Marshals Service sends federal inmates to the prison. "I think it helped. It kind of opened the door," said Spence, who traveled to Washington, D.C. with Lucio and County Commissioner Noe Loya. Lucio’s connection to the prison goes back for several years. In 1999, Lucio "introduced" Corplan Corrections to Willacy County commissioners as they began to plan for a federal prison here, Lucio said of the Argyle consulting firm that worked to develop the project. Among Lucio’s clients is Aguirre Construction, the Dallas firm that designed the federal prison. Lucio also works as a consultant for MTC, the Utah firm that manages the prison. Last week, U.S. district Judge Andrew Hanen convicted former Willacy County Commissioners Israel Tamez and Jose Jimenez of taking more than $10,000 in kickbacks in the federal prison project. Federal prosecutors charged Tamez and Jimenez received kickbacks "from particular corporate representatives who were selected in the competition" for the prison project. The 500-bed prison’s inmate count dropped from near-capacity in early October to about 240 in December, Spence said, noting MTC pays the county $2 for every prisoner. The financially embattled county projected $300,000 in federal prison money to boost its $3.8 million general fund budget. A year-end money crunch led the Marshal’s Service to transfer inmates to prisons with lower housing costs, Spence said.

January 13, 2005 Brownsville Herald
Three companies with ties to state Sen. Eddie Lucio Jr., D-Brownsville, worked on the construction of the federal detention center in Willacy County, which is now the subject of an federal investigation into bribes. Inquiries already netted the Jan. 4 convictions of Willacy County commissioners Jose Jimenez, 67, of Sebastian, and Israel Tamez, 58, of Raymondville. They each pleaded guilty to accepting $10,000 or more in bribes from corporate representatives involved in the design, construction, financing, maintenance and management of the detention center, according to U.S. Attorney Michael Shelby. According to public records, the primary companies involved in the project include jail consultant Corplan Corrections of Argyle, design-builder Hale-Mills Construction of Houston, Aguirre Corp. of Dallas, and the Management and Training Corp. (MTC) of Utah, which manages the detention center. Federal Election Commission records also identify Corplan’s James M. Parkey as an architect with Aguirre Corp. Lucio has been on Corplan’s, Aguirre’s and MTC’s payroll for about four years for marketing, public relations and consulting work. He remains on the payrolls of at least Corplan and MTC, The Brownsville Herald found Wednesday. Asked if he was involved in wrongdoing, Lucio answered without hesitation. “Of course not,” he said. “You don’t even have to ask that.” In a prepared statement, Shelby said the two commissioners admitted to accepting a series of bribes from June 2000 through March 2003 in exchange for their votes awarding contracts for the construction of the detention center. In June 2000, The Brownsville Herald reported that Lucio authored legislation in 1999 clarifying that counties can enter into a contract with a private vendor for the design, management or construction of jails. Lucio was a consultant for MTC in 2000, which had been vying for the Cameron County detention center project. Lucio told The Brownsville Herald in 2002 and 2004 that Corplan, Aguirre, MTC and other firms contracted him for marketing, public relations and consulting work. He said this included introducing and setting up meetings with local governmental officials. Lucio’s 2003 financial statement filed in 2004 with the Texas Ethics Commission reflects that Aguirre paid him $10,000 to $24,999; TEDSI $25,000 or more; Corplan $25,000 or more; and MTC $25,000 or more. Lucio declined to tell The Brownsville Herald on Wednesday the specific amount of money Corplan and MTC paid him. He confirmed that he continues on their payroll, however.

January 8, 2005 Valley Morning Star
Willacy County commissioners will consider hiring attorney Ramon Garcia, Hidalgo County’s judge, to investigate whether there are grounds to sue companies involved in a federal prison project that paid kickbacks to two former commissioners. Friday, an attorney representing a company involved in the prison project vehemently denied Corplan Corrections was involved in any wrongdoing. Monday, commissioners will consider hiring Garcia to investigate whether there are grounds to file a civil lawsuit against companies involved in the $14.5 million federal prison and the current development of a $7.5 million county jail. "We’re not going to tolerate companies coming in to take advantage of small counties and offering kickbacks and going on like it’s business as usual," District Attorney Juan Angel Guerra said. "Whoever offers kickbacks is just as guilty as those taking kickbacks." Tuesday, U.S. district Judge Andrew Hanen convicted former commissioners Israel Tamez and Jose Jimenez of taking more than $10,000 in kickbacks in the federal prison project. Under the law, contracts that involve illegal activity are void, Guerra said. "Someone gave them that money," County Judge Simon Salinas said. "Whoever made these guys get dirty, they’re going to go down, too. I want them to pay for it. Someone’s going to take them on in the courtroom." The county could win "millions" of dollars in damages because a financial firm involved in the project has sold about $25 million in bonds — about $10 million more than the prison’s $14.5 million cost, Guerra said. But that bond money was used to pay interest, said Edmundo Ramirez, a McAllen attorney representing Corplan Corrections, a consultant in the federal prison project.

Willacy County Federal Detention Center, Raymondville, Texas
July 26, 2006 Valley Morning Star
The county may be spending more than necessary to build a new detention center for illegal immigrants, Willacy County Attorney Juan Angel Guerra charged Monday. Guerra said that the companies behind the $60.6 million detention center over-billed the county by more than $15 million. Other companies could have constructed the project's 10 Kevlar-covered domes for $30 million to $35 million, Guerra said. "Nobody questioned it," Guerra said of county commissioners who voted 3-2 last week to borrow $60.6 million to build the 2,000-bed detention center. "The price is just ridiculous. Nobody did a comparison," Guerra said. "They spend more time when they buy a truck or a tractor, to call dealerships to see if they can get a better deal." Last month, commissioners entered into a two-year contract with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to build the detention center that's part of a national crackdown on illegal immigration. In a contract, companies behind the project put the cost of construction materials at $20 million and the labor costs at $30 million, Guerra said. Commissioners planned to issue about $50 million to fund the project. But costs jumped to $60.6 million to include $3 million to buy equipment to operate the detention center, $3 million to set up a reserve fund and $3 million in interest payments. Guerra pointed to four areas in which he said the contractor "inflated" costs. While Kevlar material costs $3.3 million, the contractor billed the county for $4.6 million, Guerra said. While the contractor billed the county for $3.6 million to prepare the 53-acre site for construction, other companies said they could have done the job for $1.6 million, Guerra said. The contractor billed the county for $2.8 million for sewer work, but other companies said they could have done the job for $800,000. And other companies said paving the asphalt parking lot would cost $150,000, the contractor billed the county for $400,000, Guerra said. "We cannot justify these costs," Guerra said.

July 20, 2006 Valley Morning Star
State Sen. Eddie Lucio resumed consulting work with a company that he says offers Willacy County hundreds of jobs and a steady flow of revenue for years to come. Last year, Lucio suspended business with Management Training Corp. and two other companies involved in the development of a $14.5 million prison project that was the focus of a federal bribery investigation. That investigation led to the convictions of former Willacy County commissioners Israel Tamez and Jose Jimenez. In letters to the companies, Lucio wrote he was taking "a leave of absence" from consulting work "until this matter is resolved." At the time, Lucio asked the Texas Attorney General's Office and the state Ethics Commission to review his work as a consultant. "I can do business with companies that do business with the federal government," Lucio said the agencies determined. Lucio resumed work for MTC as the company sought a Willacy County contract to operate a $60.6 million detention center to hold illegal immigrants. Last week, commissioners voted 3-2 to give MTC a two-year contract to operate the detention center. "They're an outstanding operation," Lucio said of the Utah-based company that operates a 525-bed county-owned prison here. Lucio declined to disclose his fee. Monday, commissioners voted 3-2 to issue $60.6 million in bonds to build the detention center that's part of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's crackdown on illegal immigration. "I think Willacy County will come out ahead," Lucio said. "I think it's a wonderful opportunity for hundreds of jobs." Lucio said his work with MTC was limited to a meeting with County Attorney Juan Angel Guerra. In the meeting, Lucio talked 30 to 45 minutes with Guerra, who recommended that commissioners hire Corrections Corporation of America, which proposed working with investors to fund the project's costs. "He had questions whether MTC was a reputable company," said Lucio, who owns Rio Consulting in Brownsville. "He was very, very out to get the commissioners to hire CCA. All we did was talk about the qualifications of MTC and why it would be a better deal." Under MTC's contract, the county will own the detention center, Lucio said. "It's a ($60) million asset at the end," Lucio said, referring to county payments that run through 2009. "This is going to be a ... facility for the future. They can continue the same situation. I'm going to push MTC to make sure they fulfill the wishes of Willacy County. What we need to do is insure that inmates are brought to that facility." Lucio said he stood behind company projections that show the federal government will fill the detention center with more than 1,800 illegal immigrants. "The federal government is in dire need," Lucio said of detention center beds. County commissioners Aurelio Guerra and Abiel Cantu voted against hiring MTC because they questioned whether the federal government could fill the detention center with illegal immigrants for which the company would pay at least $2.25 a head. But steps such as hiring more U.S. Border Patrol agents and the placement of National Guard troops along the border will increase arrests of illegal immigrants, Lucio said. "Even President Bush is beefing up the border," he said. "(But) nothing is going to stop people from (crossing the border) to seek the American dream. I think more people are going to get caught." Cantu and Aurelio Guerra also voted against the company's hiring because they argued that the federal government would restrict the county from spending detention center revenues on county expenditures. Lucio said he did not know the specifics of the contract. "That's up to the Commissioners Court to look into the specifics of the contract," he said. Lucio denied Juan Angel Guerra's claim that he was working for Corplan Corrections, an Irving-based prison consulting firm, in the detention center project. Juan Angel Guerra said Lucio told him that he worked for James Parkey, Corplan's president. Last year, Lucio said he suspended ties with Corplan, MTC and Aguirre Corp. of Dallas after Tamez and Jimenez pleaded guilty to taking more than $10,000 in bribes in exchange for votes to hire a consultant in the $14.5 million prison project that the companies helped to develop. Lucio said he resumed work with Corplan after McAllen attorney Ramon Garcia, Hidalgo County's judge, dropped a lawsuit against Corplan and Houston-based Hale Mills construction in April. "When they were exonerated ... it cleared the path," Lucio said. "I work for them anytime I like to. I like Mr. Parkey. He's a good man. As far as I'm concerned, he's a reputable person." However, Lucio said his work with Corplan did not involve the detention center project. Last month, Willacy County commissioners entered into a two-year contract with Homeland Security to construct tent-like domes to hold 500 beds by Aug. 2. As part of the contract, the detention center will expand to 2,000 beds within 90 days.

July 16, 2006 Valley Morning Star
Federal officials said last week that it's not their intention to fill up a 2,000-bed detention center that would hold illegal immigrants before deportation. But Willacy County commissioners are banking on a private prison company that claims the federal government will pay the county nearly $12 million to house 2,000 prisoners there. "I can't guarantee those numbers," Nina Pruneda, spokeswoman for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's Immigration and Customs Enforcement in San Antonio, said of the inmate count. "It's not a question of filling beds," she said. "It's making sure we have operational beds ready." The $50 million detention center made up of 10 Kevlar-covered domes is part of the federal government's national crackdown on illegal immigration, officials said. Last month, county commissioners entered into a two-year contract with Homeland Security in the construction of tent-like domes to house 500 beds by Aug. 2. As part of the contract, the detention center would expand to 2,000 beds within 90 days. This month, commissioners picked Utah-based Management Training Corp. to operate the detention center. But the Willacy County Local Government Corp., a nonprofit board organized to oversee the project, failed to ratify the contract. Thursday, commissioners held off on the issue of $50 million in bonds amid concerns that the federal government may not fill up the detention center with prisoners for whom it would pay a daily rate per detainee. In South Texas, the new detention center would boost the number of beds open to illegal immigrants to 5,200, Pruneda said. The agency decided to build the Willacy County detention center rather than expand its detention center in Port Isabel, which houses 800 beds, Pruneda said. "The decision to open a facility in Willacy was an operational decision," she said. Wednesday, consultants warned that the federal government would likely restrict the county to the expenditure of "administrative" fees of as little as $2.25 a day per prisoner. The "county's current approach may open the county to substantial liability to the federal government," warned the law firm of Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld of Washington, D.C. The consultants noted the federal contract specifies the county "shall not charge for costs which are not directly related to the housing and detention of detainees." "It specifically identifies costs for which the county may not charge, such as certain salaries, indirect costs and services and facilities that are not used by the federal detainees," the consultants wrote. The consultants cited a case in which Homeland Security required Pennsylvania's York County to return as much as $58.5 million after it allegedly spent detention center revenue on unauthorized expenses.

July 12, 2006 Valley Morning Star
The new detention center for illegal immigrants may not be the financial windfall that county officials imagine, the county attorney said. Willacy County Attorney Juan Angel Guerra warned commissioners that the federal government may restrict the spending of money generated by a new $50 million detention center. A contract with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security restricts spending to the detention of illegal immigrants, Guerra told commissioners. "It is very clear that you have to justify every single amount of money and if you can't justify it, the money goes back" to Homeland Security's U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Guerra told commissioners in a Monday meeting. Last month, the county entered into a contract with Homeland Security to sell $50 million in bonds to develop a 2,000-bed detention center to house illegal immigrants. In the meeting, Guerra warned that Homeland Security required Pennsylvania's York County to return as much as $58.5 million allegedly spent on unauthorized expenses.

July 6, 2006 San Antonio Express-News
Willacy County officials haven't formally decided who will get to build the state's largest immigration detention facility — but that hasn't stopped a Houston company from beginning work on the massive project. Hale-Mills Construction has had crews at the site of the planned $50 million jail for the past two weeks, leveling land and pouring concrete for the foundation. The company began working on the 2,000-bed facility after county officials signed an agreement June 19 with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to house detainees. Without a county decision on how to pay for it or, more importantly, who would be hired to build it, Hale-Mills began clearing a cotton field in Raymondville the next day. County officials are working out other details, such as how the county will pay for the facility's construction and if Hale-Mills will build it, Vela said. County Judge Simon Salinas said the company is working at its own risk and has no guarantees it will be chosen to finish the job. The county formed the public facilities corporation to issue $50 million in lease revenue bonds to investors to fund construction. Although no bonds have been issued and the county hasn't identified the corporation's governing board, that board is set to meet today to pick officers, consider hiring Vela as its lawyer and consider approving a contract with Hale-Mills. It will also consider hiring a private jail company to operate the facility after it is completed.