FEDERAL PRETRIAL SERVICES OFFICER CONVICTED OF MAKING FALSE STATEMENTS TO FEDERAL OFFICERS

BROWNSVILLE, TX – Long-time McAllen Federal Pretrial Services Officer Juan M. Cantu, 51, of Edinburg, Texas, was convicted today for making false statements to a federal agent regarding the whereabouts of a convicted fugitive.

Indicted in May 2006 by a Houston grand jury, Cantu pleaded guilty this morning admitting that on April 21, 2005, he lied to a deputy United States Marshal and an FBI special agent, who were conducting an investigation to locate a fugitive, when he claimed to have no information about the fugitive nor his whereabouts. In fact, the United States developed evidence proving that Cantu, in fact, had extensive telephone contact with the fugitive, information he failed to disclose to the investigating agents.

United States District Judge Hilda Tagle accepted Cantu’s guilty plea and set sentencing for November 27, 2006. Cantu faces a maximum of five (5) years imprisonment and a $250,000 fine at sentencing. In the meantime, Cantu will be permitted to remain free on bond.

The investigation was conducted by agents of the McAllen Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigations Division, with assistance from the Drug Enforcement Administration and the United States Marshal’s Service, and is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Larry Eastepp.