Theft charges against former sheriff’s office commander dismissed

Former Hidalgo County Sheriff’s Commander Jose Padilla walks into the federal courthouse in McAllen Thursday, Nov. 13, 2014. (Delcia Lopez | dlopez@themonitor.com)

A slew of theft charges levied against a former Hidalgo County Sheriff’s Office commander previously convicted of taking a bribe from a drug trafficker have been dismissed.

The Pharr Police Department had arrested Jose Angel Padilla, 65, on Aug. 28, 2019 on theft charges and the former law enforcement official was subsequently indicted on a count of theft of property, three counts of credit card or debit card abuse, a count of forgery of a financial instrument and a count of engaging in organized criminal activity.

On Sept. 4, a judge dismissed the charges with prejudice, meaning they cannot be brought against the man again, court records show.

Padilla worked for the sheriff’s office under former Sheriff Guadalupe Treviño, who was sentenced to three years in prison for money laundering in 2014 in a case that made national headlines following a series of federal investigations in the Valley resulting in convictions of elected officials, including a sheriff, judge, district attorney and former state legislator in Cameron County that also made national headlines.

The former sheriff’s son — Jonathan Treviño — also found himself in federal prison in the Hidalgo County scandal for leading the Panama Unit out of the Mission Police Department that reported to his father.

The Panama Unit stole thousands of kilograms of marijuana and hundreds of kilograms of cocaine from drug traffickers and distributed the narcotics. Jonathan Treviño was sentenced to 17 years in prison and was released from federal custody on March 20, records show.

Padilla was sentenced to approximately three years in prison for taking the bribe at the time.

The former official had been charged along with 42-year-old Weslaco resident Milagros Gomez and 37-year-old Kathy Judith Morales following a months-long investigation into a trucking company that lost nearly $110,000.

The trio were accused of making unauthorized purchases with the company’s credit card.

Morales pleaded guilty on Nov. 8, 2024 to theft of property and was sentenced to five years probation, community service and restitution. The restitution order is sealed so it’s unknown how much she had to pay.

Gomez pleaded guilty on Oct. 5, 2021 to charges of theft of property and engaging in organized criminal activity and was sentenced to 10 years probation and was ordered to pay $40,000.

Padilla is currently asking a judge to retrieve his property seized by police at the time of his arrest, court records show.

The post Theft charges against former sheriff’s office commander dismissed appeared first on MyRGV.com.