Former Progreso school board president sentenced to 12 years in prison for smuggling drugs

BROWNSVILLE, Texas (ValleyCentral) — Former Progreso school board President Francisco “Frank” Alanis, who participated in a conspiracy to stash cocaine at Dorothy Thompson Middle School, was sentenced to 12 years and six months in prison Tuesday.

During a hearing on Tuesday morning, Alanis apologized to his family and the community. Alanis told U.S. District Judge Fernando Rodriguez Jr. that he was “hanging out with the wrong people.”

“I respect the sentence,” said attorney Carlos A. Garcia of Mission, who represented Alanis. “But I don’t agree with it.”

Alanis served on the school board from 2016 to 2024. He also worked for the city of Progreso, where he served as both assistant city manager and city secretary.

“The only reason, in my estimation, that Mr. Alanis received the sentence that he received is because of the position that he held as a politician within the city of Progreso,” Garcia said.

POLITICS AND POWER

The sentencing marked the end of an era in Progreso.

Frank started working at City Hall in December 2004, according to documents released under the Texas Public Information Act.

At the time, Jose Guadalupe Vela Jr. called the shots in Progreso.

Vela — a former member of the school board who spent time in federal prison for smuggling marijuana — placed his sons in key positions at City Hall and the Progreso Independent School District.

One son, Michael R. Vela, became president of the Progreso school board. Another son, Omar L. Vela, served as mayor.

In August 2013, however, the FBI arrested Jose, Michael and Omar on public corruption charges.

The arrests created a power vacuum in Progreso — and Frank filled the void.

His brother Jerry, a computer technician at Progreso ISD, ran a successful campaign for City Council in 2014. Another brother, Alejandro “Alex” Alanis, won a seat on the school board in 2015.

Frank joined Alex on the school board in 2016.

Moments after the swearing-in ceremony, Alex motioned to make Frank the board president. The motion passed unanimously.

In 2017, when Mayor Arturo Aleman stepped down, Jerry decided to run for the city’s top job.

Nobody challenged him. Progreso canceled the election and declared Jerry the winner.

In just four years, the Alanis family had taken control of Progreso.

THREE MASKED MEN

In December 2015, when Frank was busy consolidating power, three masked gunmen showed up at his house.

They beat Frank with the butt of a pistol, according to a report prepared by the Texas Rangers, which investigated the incident. The masked men fled after Frank’s wife grabbed her own gun and threatened to shoot them.

Frank chased after them and caught the slowest gunman, David Ricardo Saiz, in his front yard.

The Progreso Police Department charged Saiz with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.

“As the officer was interviewing Mr. Saiz, Mr. Alanis came towards Mr. Saiz and got real close to him,” according to a supplemental report filed in the case, “and demanded that Mr. Saiz tell him who had sent him.”

Saiz told a bizarre story about being picked up by two masked men behind a supermarket in Mission.

The men said they planned to get “money and drugs,” according to a statement Saiz signed after his arrest. Saiz said they handed him a gun and forced him to participate in the robbery.

Frank, meanwhile, denied that his family sold or smuggled drugs.

“Any family members that you have that are in a bad business?” asked Texas Ranger Rolando Villarreal, who recorded his interview with Frank. “You know, like the drug business or anything like that? That they could have tried to get you?”

“No,” Frank said. “Pos, no.”

Frank did say that someone had threatened him and a friend.

“Who’s your friend?” Villarreal asked.

“Pedro Lopez,” Frank said.

In 2013, just two years before the incident at Frank’s house, the Texas Department of Public Safety had caught Lopez smuggling more than 1,100 pounds of marijuana through Progreso.

Lopez pleaded guilty to a felony but avoided prison.

The Department of Public Safety linked Lopez to another marijuana shipment in 2016, according to documents filed in a civil forfeiture case, but never charged him with a crime.

TWO DRUG BUSTS

The federal investigation started in 2020, when Border Patrol seized two cocaine shipments.

Agents intercepted the first shipment on June 13, 2020, when a red truck stopped at the Javier Vega Jr. checkpoint near Sarita.

During a search, agents discovered about 54 pounds of cocaine hidden in one of the truck’s differentials.

Homeland Security Investigations arrested the driver, Ruben Toscano Jr., on drug trafficking charges.

Special Agent Daniel Hernandez testified about the drug bust during a hearing on June 19, 2020, in Brownsville.

On several occasions, Toscano said he transported 20 kilograms of cocaine to Atlanta and brought back $500,000 in cash.

To prove he wasn’t lying, Toscano attempted to show agents his WhatsApp messages, Hernandez said, but Toscano had deleted the app before his arrest.

“So he actually re-downloaded the app for us to show us the conversations,” Hernandez said.

Unfortunately for Toscano, the conversations had been deleted along with WhatsApp.

“But he was receiving phone calls,” Hernandez said, adding that Toscano claimed the calls were from people “in charge.”

Border Patrol stopped another red truck on Aug. 8, 2020.

When they searched the truck’s differentials, agents found about 30 pounds of cocaine.

The driver, Joe Rosbel Salas Jr., had worked for the Progreso Independent School District. A grand jury indicted Salas in March 2021.

Toscano and Salas pleaded guilty, cooperated with prosecutors and received short prison sentences. The investigation, though, didn’t stop with Toscano and Salas.

Agents worked closely with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Texas, which spent years building a case against the drug trafficking organization.

Prosecutors charged at least 12 people, including former Progreso Mayor Arturo Aleman, with participating in the conspiracy.

Homeland Security Investigations arrested Frank Alanis in October 2023. Agents also seized three black safes from a home owned by Frank’s mother.

The safes contained about $722,000 in cash, said U.S. Border Patrol Agent Pablo Barrera, who testified during a hearing in March 2024. Agents also found documents that mentioned Frank and Jerry.

“When the safes were seized, Ms. Alanis stated that they did not belong to her — that the safes belonged to her son,” Barrera said, referring to Frank.

According to Barrera, “sources” told federal agents they used the cash to buy drugs and tractor-trailers.

Along with the home owned by Frank’s mother, agents searched a building on the Dorothy Thompson Middle School campus in Progreso.

According to Barrera, a source claimed they stored and packaged drugs in the building.

“The actual room where the narcotics were being stored was the actual IT room where Mr. Gerardo Alanis worked out of,” Barrera said.

Agents didn’t find any drugs.

“But we did find two boxes of vacuum sealed bags used to repackage narcotics — commonly, very commonly used to repackage narcotics — inside the IT room,” Barrera said.

Faced with lengthy prison sentences, Frank and Jerry pleaded guilty.

As part of his plea, Frank confessed to “financially backing” the drug trafficking organization and waived his right to appeal.

In exchange, prosecutors agreed to recommend that Frank only be held accountable for 5 to 15 kilograms —about 11 to 33 pounds — of cocaine.

SENTENCING

Frank returned to court Tuesday wearing an orange jail uniform and silver handcuffs.

His brother Alex and former school board Trustee Robert Garcia showed up to watch the sentencing. On several occasions, Frank turned around to look at them.

A presentence investigation report prepared by the U.S. Probation Office placed Frank in a difficult position.

The report, which remains sealed, recommended that Frank receive a longer sentence because he abused a position of public trust, participated in a scheme to use Dorothy Thompson Middle School as a stash house and held a high-level position in the drug trafficking organization.

Carlos A. Garcia, the attorney who represented Frank, objected.

“There is no indication that he used this position of trust to facilitate the ongoing criminal activity,” Garcia said.

Rodriguez, the federal judge, appeared skeptical.

Information included in the presentence investigation report suggested Frank’s positions in Progreso introduced him to law enforcement officials.

Frank was able to ask law enforcement contacts for advice, Rodriguez said, summarizing the report, and find out whether other law enforcement officers were operating in Progreso.

The report also stated, based on information provided by co-conspirators, that six loads of cocaine had been stored at Dorothy Thompson Middle School while Frank served on the school board.

Rodriguez sustained both objections, ruling that Frank didn’t abuse a position of public trust and the school didn’t meet the criteria for a stash house.

The question of Frank’s role in the drug trafficking organization proved more problematic.

Garcia argued that Frank played an average role in the conspiracy.

Frank simply provided money, Garcia said. He didn’t know anyone in Mexico who could provide cocaine or anyone in the United States who could purchase the drugs.

“Those contacts were not his,” Garcia said.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Lance Watt, who prosecuted the case, disagreed.

Frank didn’t run the organization, Watt said, but he played a significant role. Watt said he considered Frank a manager or supervisor rather than a leader or organizer.

Rodriguez concluded that Frank should be considered a manager.

As a result, Frank faced a mandatory minimum of 120 months in prison. Guidelines published by the U.S. Sentencing Commission recommended 121 to 151 months.

Rodriguez settled on 150 months, followed by five years of supervised release.

Smuggling drugs is “a crime that destroys lives on both sides of the border,” Rodriguez said.

Jerry is scheduled for sentencing on July 24.