Federal prosecutors say former Edinburg councilman solicited bribes on multiple occasions

McALLEN, Texas (ValleyCentral) — Former Edinburg City Councilman Jorge “Coach” Salinas solicited bribes from an energy company, a law firm and two insurance providers, according to federal prosecutors.

The FBI arrested Salinas on bribery and racketeering charges in February.

Salinas pleaded not guilty. He’s scheduled for trial in August.

The new allegations surfaced on Friday, when federal prosecutors informed the court about other “alleged misconduct” involving Salinas and someone described as his “co-conspirator.”

“In the present case, the co-conspirator detailed above (whom the United States intends to call to testify at trial) and the defendant had a previous ‘working relationship’ where the co-conspirator would act as a representative for the defendant toward individuals who wished to establish business relationships with the City of Edinburg, and/or obtain contracts with the City of Edinburg, which could be financially beneficial to them and their businesses,” according to a notice prosecutors filed on Friday.

Former Edinburg City Councilman Jorge "Coach" Salinas in May 2018, when he attended a National Day of Prayer event in Edinburg. (Photo courtesy of the city of Edinburg via Facebook.)

The notice summarized three schemes.

“On several occasions in and around October 2019, the defendant, who at the time was a sitting Edinburg City Council member in Edinburg, Texas, engaged in discussions, along with a co-conspirator, with representatives of an energy company regarding the defendant taking official acts to help that energy company obtain contracts with the City of Edinburg, which would have been financially rewarding to the energy company,” according to the notice. “During these interactions, the defendant requested things of value from the energy company through the co-conspirator as a bribe in exchange for the defendant taking certain official acts to benefit the energy company.”

The notice didn’t identify the energy company by name or provide any other details about the company.

“On several occasions in and around October and November 2019, the defendant, who at the time was a sitting Edinburg City Council member in Edinburg, Texas, engaged in discussions, along with a co-conspirator, with an attorney at a Houston-based tax law firm, regarding the defendant taking official acts to help that law firm obtain debt collection contracts with the City of Edinburg, which would have been financially rewarding to the law firm,” according to the notice. “During these interactions, the defendant requested things of value from this attorney through the co-conspirator as a bribe in exchange for the defendant taking certain official acts to benefit the law firm.”

The notice didn’t identify the attorney or the law firm by name.

“On several occasions between on or about May through December 2019, the defendant, who at the time was a sitting Edinburg City Council member in Edinburg, Texas, engaged in discussions, along with a co-conspirator, with representatives of two separate insurance companies regarding the defendant taking official acts to help each company obtain an insurance contract(s) with the City of Edinburg, which would have been financially rewarding to each of these businesses,” according to the notice. “During this time, the defendant instructed representatives of these insurance companies that they each needed to hire the co-conspirator as their political consultant.”

Salinas “implied to each company that such hiring of the co-conspirator was a necessary step for their respective businesses to obtain contracts from the City of Edinburg,” according to the notice. “Representatives of each company subsequently paid the co-conspirator with the understanding that the money they paid would influence the defendant to use his official position and take official acts to favor each company’s financial and business interests regarding business they might do with the City of Edinburg.”

The notice didn’t identify the insurance representatives by name or specify how much they paid.

Attorney Jesus “Jesse” Villalobos of McAllen, who represents Salinas, couldn’t immediately be reached for comment Friday afternoon.