Jury Selection Begins In Sanchez/Jones Public Corruption Trial

Jury selection began Wednesday in El Paso’s latest public corruption trial.

Former El Paso District Clerk Gilbert Sanchez and local attorney Luther Jones are accused of fraud.

The trial was supposed to start up last June, but prosecutors asked for more time, citing the amount of evidence which includes 1,500 voice recordings.

In a federal indictment, prosecutors allege that Sanchez accepted cash and a trip to Las Vegas in 2004. In exchange, the indictment says, Sanchez helped steer a county contract to a vendor that benefited Jones’ interests.

The contract was never awarded.

Jones is a former El Paso county judge and state representative. In 2004, he was working as an attorney.

Both Jones and Sanchez are each charged with one count of mail fraud and one count of wire fraud.

They were charged with bribery at one point, but Federal Judge Frank Montalvo dropped three counts against the pair because a five-year statute of limitations expired.