Police charge former Escobares city councilwoman with bribery

McALLEN, Texas (ValleyCentral) — Police arrested former Escobares City Councilwoman Marie B. Peña on a bribery charge Tuesday.

The Escobares Police Department charged former City Councilwoman Marie B. Peña, 63, of Escobares with bribery, a second-degree felony.

Peña allegedly told Public Works Foreman Alejandro Ivan Hinojosa that “she would have given Mr. Hinojosa a pay raise” if he agreed not to run for Escobares City Council, according to the criminal complaint against her.

Escobares Police Chief Pedro Estrada couldn’t immediately be reached for comment.

Lt. Jesse Alvarez Jr., who handled the case, said he couldn’t release any information about what happened — not even the name of the person who had been arrested — because the case remained under investigation.

Peña was in the process of being booked at the Starr County jail on Tuesday afternoon.

According to the criminal complaint, police reviewed surveillance video that showed Peña talking with Hinojosa.

The criminal complaint doesn’t specify when or where the conversation happened.

“Ms. Peña is seen speaking in Spanish, saying, ‘Te falle,’ which in this context loosely translates to ‘I completed my part,’” according to the criminal complaint. “Later, Ms. Peña appears to say, ‘¿O te vas a rajar?’ which roughly translates to ‘Or are you going to back out?’”

Moments later, Peña told Hinojosa to hold on and “is seen pointing her finger toward Mr. Hinojosa’s upper stomach area, followed by her poking him multiple times,” according to the criminal complaint.

Peña was talking about Hinojosa’s decision to withdraw his ballot application for a seat on the City Council, according to the criminal complaint.

“Ms. Peña also mentions that she would have given Mr. Hinojosa a pay raise if he had withdrawn the application as she requested,” according to the criminal complaint.

Peña hadn’t posted bail Tuesday afternoon and couldn’t immediately be reached for comment.