Former El Paso politician Willie Gandara Jr. to be released

Disgraced El Paso politician Guillermo “Willie” Gandara Jr. is set to be released from a San Antonio halfway house Wednesday.

Federal records show 42-year-old Gandara completed his five-year sentence for a 2012 drug smuggling conviction at the Federal Bureau of Prisons residential re-entry center.

He served the majority of his sentence at a federal facility in Texarkana.

Gandara was originally sentenced to six-and-a-half years in prison, but in November 2015 his sentence was reduced to five years, plus three years of supervised release and a $300 fine.

At his plea hearing, Gandara admitted hiding 124 pounds of marijuana in a tractor-trailer bound for Chicago in October 2011.

The marijuana was bundled into 91 packages stowed away in chili powder.

In 2008, Gandara was elected county commissioner, took office in 2009 and resigned after his arrest in February 2012.

Gandara was also the mayor of Socorro during his political career.