Edcouch city manager, mayor pro-tem plan to plead not guilty to public corruption charges

McALLEN, Texas (ValleyCentral) — A federal judge released Edcouch City Manager Victor Hugo De La Cruz and Mayor Pro-Tem Rene Flores from jail Friday, less than 48 hours after the FBI arrested them on public corruption charges.

De La Cruz and Flores are charged with soliciting kickbacks from Pink Ape Media Consulting, a company that provided Edcouch with marketing services.

Flores pocketed $2,000, according to the indictment against them. De La Cruz allegedly facilitated the payments.

“None of these cases are insignificant,” said attorney Rick Salinas of Mission, who represents Flores. “Because it deals with public officials.”

The FBI arrested De La Cruz and Flores on Thursday. After spending the night in jail, they appeared before U.S. Magistrate Judge J. Scott Hacker wearing hooded sweatshirts, athletic pants and handcuffs.

De La Cruz and Flores said they understood the charges — and had already hired attorneys.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Roberto “Bobby” Lopez Jr. said the government had no objection to De La Cruz and Flores being released on bond.

Less than an hour later, they left the courthouse.

De La Cruz plans to plead not guilty, according to his attorney, Santos Maldonado of Edinburg. Flores also plans to plead not guilty.

“It’s something that we’re going to have to figure out somewhere down the road,” Salinas said. “Clearly, if they have an informant or someone cooperating or recordings, all of that is important in deciding what we’re going to do.”

The case against De La Cruz and Flores is linked to Pink Ape Media Consulting, a Brownsville-based company.

Rodrigo Moreno Fernandez, who created the company, is an FBI informant.

Details about Moreno’s work for the FBI surfaced in 2020, when he testified against former Brownsville school board Trustee Sylvia P. Atkinson during a two-week trial.

When he took the witness stand, Moreno said the FBI contacted him after he started working on political campaigns in Cameron County.

The FBI suggested that Moreno, who had no legal status in the United States, could avoid deportation if he provided agents with information.

Moreno agreed.

The information Moreno provided helped the FBI build cases against several Cameron County officials, including Atkinson.

Pink Ape, however, also did business in Hidalgo County.

In 2019, the city of Edcouch paid Pink Ape for website development and design. The indictment against De La Cruz and Flores calls the company “Business A.”

As part of the kickback scheme, De La Cruz and Flores met with “Person 1,” who owned and operated Pink Ape. The indictment doesn’t identify Person 1 by name.

“DE LA CRUZ and FLORES agreed with Person 1 that Edcouch would pay Business A for marketing work,” according to the indictment. In exchange for the marketing work, Person 1 paid kickbacks to Flores.

Edcouch paid $3,000 to Pink Ape on July 11, 2019.

Four days later, according to the indictment, De La Cruz told Person 1 that Flores “was expecting his payment.”

Person 1 paid $1,000 to Flores.

Edcouch paid another $3,000 to Pink Ape on Sept. 12, 2019.

After the city issued the check, Person 1 paid $1,000 to Flores, according to the indictment.

The FBI arrested De La Cruz and Flores on Thursday morning, nearly five years after the final payment.

They’re charged with one count of conspiracy to commit bribery, one count of bribery and two counts of violating the federal Travel Act. If convicted, De La Cruz and Flores face a maximum of 10 years in federal prison.

Edcouch Mayor Virginio “Virgil” Gonzalez Jr. said he suspended De La Cruz with pay on Thursday.

The Edcouch Board of Aldermen may discuss De La Cruz’s employment during a meeting next week.

De La Cruz, though, said Friday that he doesn’t plan to resign.

“I don’t think I should,” De La Cruz said.

Salinas, the attorney who represents Flores, said he would recommend that his client resign from the Board of Aldermen.

“We’re going to respect whatever the government wants to do, as far as that goes,” Salinas said. 

“We’re not in the business of running around poking the bear.”