FORMER ARCHITECTURAL FIRM EMPLOYEE PLEADS GUILTY TO BRIBERY SCHEME

[McALLEN, TX] – Daniel Rodriguez, a former employee of an architectural firm in McAllen, had been convicted of paying bribes to former Edcouch Elsa Independent School District (“EE-ISD”) trustee Aaron Gonzalez, United States Attorney Don DeGabrielle announced today.

At a hearing held late in the afternoon on Friday, August 11, 2006, Rodriguez, 37, plead guilty to one count of extortion. Rodriguez was indicted in October 2005 along with Aaron Gonzalez, 42. Rodriguez remains in jail pending his sentencing which United States District Judge Ricardo Hinojosa has scheduled for October 25, 2006 at 9:30 a.m. At sentencing, Rodriguez faces a maximum sentence of twenty (20) years in federal prison (without parole) and a maximum fine of $250,000.

In June of this year, Gonzalez, who was accused of accepting things of value from McAllen-area architectural firm employee Daniel Rodriguez and another, now-deceased, McAllen contractor, in exchange for favorable, official votes and influence regarding EE-ISD contracts related to the design and construction of schools, pleaded guilty to extortion. Gonzalez admitted to receiving a $1,500 cash payment from a bidder on a contract for furniture to be used in a new building then being built by EE-ISD. In turn, Gonzalez promised to use the official powers of his elected office to assist the bidder to receive the EE-ISD contract. Gonzalez is scheduled to be sentenced on September 1, 2006.

Rodriguez pled guilty to extortion that involved paying money to Gonzalez and providing a trip to Las Vegas in October 2000 in exchange for Gonzalez’s use of his power as an elected official to assist Rodriguez to obtain EE-ISD design contracts sought by the architectural firm for which Rodriguez then worked.

The case was investigated by agents with the McAllen Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Larry Eastepp of the Public Corruption Section of the U.S. Attorney’s Office.