Former Starr County judge charged in Operation Ice River plans to plead guilty

McALLEN, TEXAS (ValleyCentral) — A former Starr County judge accused of assisting drug smugglers plans to plead guilty.

Former Starr County Justice of the Peace Roel “Role” Valadez Jr., 33, of Rio Grande City announced his decision Thursday.

“Defendant respectfully notifies the Court of Defendant’s intent to plead guilty in open court without the benefit of plea agreement,” according to a motion filed by attorney O. Rene Flores of Edinburg, who represents Valadez.

Agents with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration arrested Valadez in September 2021 during Operation Ice River, which targeted drug smugglers in Starr County.

Along with Valadez, prosecutors brought charges against more than two dozen people.

Ignacio “Nacho” Garza, 52, of Rio Grande City and Diego Alberto Reyes Roiz, 42, of Rio Grande City headed the drug trafficking organization, according to prosecutors, and worked closely with Gulf Cartel bosses in Tamaulipas.

Valadez is charged with smuggling drugs and laundering money. He also provided Garza with information about court cases and law enforcement vehicles, according to Assistant U.S. Attorney Patricia Cook Profit, who is prosecuting the case.

“His involvement, in terms of the community, is one as a justice of the peace, where he’s been willing to do favors for individuals such as Ignacio Garza, who he knows to be — or admitted to the agents that he knew to be — a drug trafficker,” Profit said on Sept. 20, 2021, when Valadez appeared before a judge for a bond hearing. “And he has provided them with sensitive law enforcement information.”

During the investigation, agents intercepted phone calls between Valadez and drug smugglers.

“We have Title III intercepts that put him negotiating for a substantial amount of marijuana,” Profit said. “Hoping that he could bring it to Houston.”

Profit didn’t provide any details about the “substantial amount” of marijuana.

The indictment, however, charged Valadez and Garza with possession of nearly 240 pounds of marijuana “on or about” Oct. 6, 2020.

Agents started monitoring Valadez’s phone calls in February 2021, according to a criminal complaint filed in a related case.

They recorded calls between Valadez and Javier Eden Gonzalez Jr., 39, of Rio Grande City, who allegedly supplied Valadez with “high grade” marijuana.

If convicted on the most serious charge — conspiracy to possess methamphetamine, cocaine and marijuana with intent to distribute — Valadez faces 10 years to life in federal prison.