McALLEN, TEXAS (ValleyCentral) — A former U.S. Department of Agriculture loan specialist and two contractors from Starr County pleaded guilty to bribery charges Friday.
Roberto Rodriguez, 52, of Rio Grande City — who handled a federal home repair program — referred applicants to local contractors. In return, the contractors paid him about $45,000.
“Guilty,” Rodriguez said Friday morning, when he appeared before Chief U.S. District Judge Randy Crane at the federal courthouse in McAllen.
Rodriguez worked for USDA Rural Development, which oversees more than 70 programs designed to assist people in rural areas.
One of the programs, which the USDA calls Section 504 Home Repair, loans money to low-income homeowners.
“It provides loans to very-low-income homeowners to repair, improve, or modernize their homes,” according to information published by USDA Rural Development, “or provides grants to elderly, very-low-income homeowners to remove health and safety hazards.”
When people in Starr County asked about the program, Rodriguez referred them to Jose Sandoval and Daniel Jesus Diaz, two local contractors.
Sandoval and Diaz rewarded Rodriguez with cash.
On Friday morning, Assistant U.S. Attorney Patricia Cook Profit said the government believed, based on bank records, that Rodriguez received about $45,000.
Rodriguez admitted that he accepted money from Sandoval and Diaz, but Rodriguez estimated that he accepted $7,000 to $8,000 from each contractor, Profit said.
Sandoval and Diaz, meanwhile, admitted making payments to Rodriguez.
Sandoval, who had known Rodriguez for years, said he made regular payments, Profit said. Diaz admitted that he paid Rodriguez once or twice a month.
Sentencing is scheduled for July 30.
Rodriguez, Sandoval and Diaz face a maximum of 15 years in federal prison.
