Richard Quintanilla, Bribery Conspiracy, Texas 2011

A Weslaco, Texas, man has been arrested and charged with conspiracy to commit bribery in connection with a scheme to bribe a city commissioner in exchange for government contracts.

Richard Quintanilla, 51, was arrested yesterday and charged with 18 counts of bribery and conspiracy.

According to an indictment filed in the Southern District of Texas, Quintanilla allegedly conspired with engineering companies to bribe a Weslaco City Commissioner in exchange for official actions favorable to the companies.

The indictment alleges that from approximately August 2011 through December 2016, the companies supplied Quintanilla with approximately $85,950, which was funneled through a co-conspirator.

Quintanilla allegedly kept a portion of these payments and paid the remainder to a city commissioner in exchange for official actions, including voting to authorize multi-million dollar contracts for water treatment facilities in the City of Weslaco.

The FBI and IRS-CI conducted the investigation, and Trial Attorneys Peter M. Nothstein and Jessica C. Harvey of the Criminal Division's Public Integrity Section, along with Assistant U.S. Attorney Roberto Lopez, are prosecuting the case.

Quintanilla will appear before U.S. Magistrate Judge Peter E. Ormsby at 11:00 a.m. CT today.

An indictment contains only allegations. A defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

Source: https://www.justice.gov/archives/opa/pr/texas-man-arrested-and-charged-bribery-conspiracy