citrus county chronicle pro football contest

Citrus county chronicle pro football contest trial#

'When I saw $2,700 a year for a digital format for a newspaper - how many people are actually reading that for the $2,700?' another commissioner asked. Sorry Eric, I know you have 140 readers, but those guyes can subscrie it and get it to come to their homes, I support Donald Trump,' Carnahan said. 'But they can take that money, and they can do something else with it. When told this request came from the library, Carnahan said he understood where the request came from. 'I don’t agree with it, I don't like them,' he added. 'I don’t want The New York Times in this county.' 'Fake news, OK, I agree with President Trump,' Carnahan said. 'Do we really need to subscribe to The New York Times?' Commissioner Rob Kitchen asked to chuckles from the audience, video from the meeting shows.Ĭommissioner Scott Carnahan added his support, saying he agreed with President Trump. Staffers recommended the purchase, however, the issue never came up to a vote, after one of the commissioners raised objections to the paper's coverage.

24 by the librarian to purchase a digital subscription to the paper, which cost $2,657.20 a year for the first two years and $2,714.40 for the third. The kerfuffle over the Old Grey Lady began after the Citrus County Board of Commissioners were asked on Oct.

If convicted, Garcia faces a maximum of 10 years in federal prison.A Florida county has refused to add a digital New York Times subscription to its library computers. District Judge Micaela Alvarez scheduled jury selection for Nov.

Citrus county chronicle pro football contest trial#

Medrano, the attorney who represents Garcia, estimated the trial would take about 3 days. said the government would need about two-and-a-half days to present the case. He returned to court Wednesday for a pre-trial hearing.Īssistant U.S. “Defendant gave approximately $249,839.13 to Andres Morales, through RGV Redlight, as instructed by the Agua SUD General Manager,” according to the indictment, “intending to influence and reward said General Manager for his official support and recommendation for Agua SUD to award Defendant’s company a contract to serve as an owner’s representative in connection with an energy savings project.” Garcia Engineering was part of a pay-to-play scheme that involved Garcia, Morales and former Agua SUD General Manager Jose E. A grand jury indicted Garcia on a federal theft charge in June 2022.Īccording to the indictment, the agreement between Agua SUD and M. The FBI served Agua SUD with a federal grand jury subpoena for records on Performance Services Inc.

Garcia became the “Owner Representative.” Garcia Engineering about $346,000 to supervise Performance Services Inc., according to documents released under the Texas Public Information Act. The case against Garcia involved Agua SUD, which approved contracts with Performance Services Inc. Morales and 10 other people, including four businessmen, two former La Joya school board trustees and the former mayor of Peñitas, pleaded guilty. The investigation also revealed other crimes, including bankruptcy fraud, a conspiracy by La Joya school district administrators to bypass the competitive bidding process and an extortion scheme. They steered contracts to Performance Services Inc., an Indiana-based company that specialized in “energy savings” projects, in exchange for bribes and kickbacks. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Texas detail a conspiracy that involved more than a dozen public officials. The case against Garcia is part of a federal investigation that uncovered widespread corruption in western Hidalgo County.ĭocuments filed by the U.S. Medrano said the evidence will show no such agreement existed. “The whole issue is, in my opinion, whether there was a quid pro quo,” said attorney Heriberto “Eddie” Medrano of Harlingen, who represents Garcia. Garcia is accused of paying nearly $250,000 to Andres “Andy” Morales - a major player in western Hidalgo County politics - to win a contract with the Agua Special Utility District. (Photo by Dave Hendricks / The Progress Times.) Mariano Garcia, center in the black mask, during a La Joya Economic Development Corp.