County Suing Former Leaders Named In Public Corruption Probe

EL PASO, Texas — Sixteen years after the controversial land sale that helped spark a federal investigation into corruption at the county courthouse, El Paso’s county attorney is now suing some former county leaders and several local developers and attorneys.

County Attorney Jose Rodriguez says the Catalina land deal cost El Paso taxpayers money, and it is time to get some of that money back.

“In 1993, the county of El Paso initiated a land sale,” Rodriguez said. He said when county commissioners voted to buy those nearly 400 acres, taxpayers were buying more than a decade’s worth of future problems, including a lawsuit that went all the way to the state supreme court.

“In 2007, County Commissioner Betti Flores pled guilty to selling her vote to settle that suit,” Rodriguez said.

Because Flores admitted her guilt, and because of what he feels is proof that others, including former County Judge Luther Jones,acted in a corrupt way, Rodriguez said the county should get back undeveloped tracts of land and get any money made by developers on the land.

“I promised to pursue whatever legal remedies necessary to recover any loses that the citizens of El Paso County may have incurred,” the county attorney said.

Rodriguez’s allegations mirror those made by the federal government.

He also says some local attorneys were in on deals to settle the development lawsuit and one over wages in a way that benefited them and harmed the county.

One of those attorneys is Martie Jobe. She told ABC-7, “Before your phone call, I have not had any kind of contact.”

Jobe said she was “very suspect that a lawsuit would be handled this way unless it was politically motivated.”

That is something Rodriguez denied. “My principal duty is to protect the citizens of El Paso,” he said.

One of the lawsuits was filed in federal district court, and the other in County Court-at-Law No. 7. Readboth by clicking on the links to the left.