William James Jonas, III and Ricardo Lopez, Bribery and Wire Fraud, Texas 2023

A federal jury in Del Rio has convicted two former officials from Crystal City, Texas, of their roles in a bribery and kickback scheme that decimated city coffers.

54-year-old former City Manager William James Jonas, III, and 40-year-old former Mayor Ricardo Lopez, were found guilty of multiple charges, including conspiracy to commit bribery involving federal programs, wire fraud, and theft of honest services.

The verdict comes after a trial that revealed how Jonas, Lopez, and other city officials used their positions to enrich themselves by soliciting and accepting bribes from persons seeking to do business in Crystal City between May 2012 and February 2016.

According to the indictment, Jonas was involved in a wire fraud scheme in connection with a multi-million-dollar debt offering in December 2014, which was intended to pay for various improvements to the City’s infrastructure. Instead, he caused the funds to be deposited into the City’s General Fund, where they were used to pay for his salary and other unauthorized expenditures.

The balance in the City’s General Fund after the deposit of the raised funds was $2,207,050.62, but by October 31, 2015, the balance had dwindled to $2,199.95, with the City still owing approximately $735,048.79 in payments to the company that performed the infrastructure improvements.

Jonas and Lopez face up to five years in federal prison for the conspiracy to commit bribery charge, up to ten years in federal prison for each bribery-related charge, and up to 20 years in federal prison for each wire fraud-related charge. Both were remanded into the custody of the U.S. Marshals pending sentencing, which will be scheduled by order at a later date.

United States Attorney Richard L. Durbin, Jr., praised the jury’s verdict, saying, ‘By this verdict, a jury of their peers has held these defendants accountable for their inexcusable abuse of the public trust.’ FBI Special Agent in Charge Christopher Combs added, ‘This case reflects our commitment to the citizens of Crystal City to aggressively and relentlessly root out criminal corruption in our community.’