Ex-Socorro ISD trustee pleads guilty in corruption case; Ex-EPISD associate superintendent sentenced

Charlie Garcia on Wednesday afternoon pled guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit mail fraud.

He faces up to 20 years in federal prison and up to a $250,000 fine.

Garcia, a former Socorro Independent School District trustee, agreed to plea guilty last week to accepting bribes for votes on district contracts with Access Healthsource.

Tomas Galbadon was sentenced Wednesday morning by Judge Frank Montalvo to four years in jail and three years of supervised release and ordered to pay restitution.

The indictment against Galbadon states that between February 2003 and October 2007. He worked with an El Paso Independent School District trustee to accept money in exchange for support for a particular vendor trying to get a multi-million-dollar Medicare reimbursement with the district.

Galbadon pleaded guilty on December 7, 2011 to one count of conspiracy to commit mail fraud.

Co-defendant, Joseph O’Hara, is still set for jury selection and trial on February 11, 2013.