Former Weslaco city commissioner who accepted bribes avoids prison

McALLEN, TEXAS (ValleyCentral) — Former Weslaco City Commissioner David Fox, who pocketed at least $2,000 in bribes, will not spend a single day in federal prison.

U.S. District Judge Micaela Alvarez sentenced David Robert Fox, 55, of Weslaco to time served during a hearing on Wednesday afternoon.

“There were others involved in a much more significant way here,” Alvarez said.

The case against Fox, who served on the City Commission from 2012 to 2015, is part of a federal investigation that focused on corruption at Weslaco City Hall.

Weslaco had borrowed millions to upgrade the city’s water and wastewater infrastructure, including the city’s aging water treatment plant.

To make sure they received the contracts, engineering firms paid more than $4.1 million to Leonel J. Lopez Jr., a well-connected politician from Starr County.

Lopez passed along nearly $1.4 million to Hidalgo County Commissioner Arturo “A.C.” Cuellar Jr.

A.C. Cuellar placed his cousin, Weslaco City Commissioner John F. Cuellar, on the payroll at Quality Ready Mix, a concrete company based in Corpus Christi. John Cuellar, who received $405,000 from Quality Ready Mix, voted to approve contracts with the engineers.

Lopez also paid nearly $94,000 to Ricardo “Rick” Quintanilla, a businessman from Weslaco.

Quintanilla cashed the checks and split the money with Weslaco City Commissioner Gerardo “Jerry” Tafolla, who voted to approve contracts with the engineers.

Tafolla claimed he didn’t remember exactly how much cash he received.

The FBI and the Criminal Investigation division of the IRS spent years working on the case, which they dubbed “Tarnished Water.”

After federal agents confronted him, Lopez confessed and became a “Confidential Human Source” for the FBI.

Lopez pleaded guilty in 2019 but died before sentencing.

John Cuellar and Tafolla also pleaded guilty — and testified against A.C. Cuellar and Quintanilla at trial.

Jurors deliberated for just four hours before finding them guilty on bribery, money laundering and wire fraud charges.

During the federal investigation, Fox appeared before a grand jury and testified under oath.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Roberto “Bobby” Lopez Jr. asked Fox: “Did you receive any money or any benefit from any individual or any entity in connection with casting a vote as a member of the Weslaco City Commission?”

“No,” Fox said.

After he testified, however, Fox admitted that he’d actually received at least $2,000 in bribes.

The money was “intended to influence his voting and decisions in connection with the Weslaco water and wastewater treatment facilities,” Bobby Lopez said in October 2019, when Fox pleaded guilty to perjury.

Fox returned to court Wednesday for sentencing.

Based on U.S. Sentencing Commission guidelines, Fox had a recommended sentence of 6 to 12 months in prison.

Attorney Dennis Ramirez of Donna, who represented Fox, asked the court to consider time served.

Fox, however, hadn’t actually spent any time in custody. He pleaded guilty as part of a pre-arranged deal and left the federal courthouse minutes later.

Ramirez said he considered time served an appropriate sentence because Fox suffers from Parkinson’s disease, complied with all conditions of pre-trial release and cooperated with the investigation.

“He was able to assist the government to the best of his capability,” Ramirez said.

After he testified before the grand jury, Fox decided to come clean, Ramirez said, without any prompting from prosecutors.

The government apparently didn’t know about the bribes. If he’d simply stayed quiet, Fox probably would not have been charged.

“This is something that was not known to the government,” said Bobby Lopez, the federal prosecutor, who commended Fox for telling the truth.

Asked if he wanted to say anything, Fox apologized.