Prosecutor Arrested for Corruption: DA Alleged to Have Taken Over $100,000 in Bribes and Kickbacks – Looks Like Prosecutorial Misconduct Pays Pretty Good Here in Texas.

This Monday, Cameron County District Attorney Armando Villalobos was in a courtroom, standing before a judge – which isn’t anything new for him: however, this time he was in a federal courtroom not a state one, and Villalobos was there as an indicted defendant, facing federal charges of massive corruption while acting as the head prosecutor for Cameron County, Texas.

Seems that the Texas D.A. along with his former law partner Eddie Lucio are alleged to have make a tidy profit off Villalobos’ position as district attorney. (Lucio was also indicted Monday.) The indictment is thick with allegations of wrongdoing. It’s a bonanza of criminal charges: there’s racketeering involved.  Taking bribes.  Handing out bribes.  Also: extortion, improper influence, concealment, and conflict of interest.

And yes, you’ve read this right:  all these crimes are alleged to have been done by the top prosecutor for Cameron County.  The Top Dog for the area in making sure that criminal laws are respected and the public at large is protected and safe from those who violate the law.

Now, about the money.

There’s an allegation that the prosecutor took $80,000 to make a nice plea deal (that’s bribery). There’s also an allegation that Villalobos agreed to pay former Texas district court judge Abel Limas a chunk of cash so Limas would approve the plea agreement and enter the sentence.  That was key, apparently:  according to the 34 page indictment, the judge needed to enter a sentence so that the bond money would be available to fund the bribes.

This sweet deal? It let a murderer have two months (60 days) before he had to report to prison. Guess what? That convicted murderer, a man by the name of Amit Livingston, has never shown up for his appointment to be incarcerated and he’s free right now, as this post is being typed.   Out there, somewhere….

You may remember Judge Limas.

We’ve been monitoring his case for awhile now. Seems Judge Limas – who sat on a Texas judicial bench for around 7 years down in Brownsville – got busted for his own evildoing last year and copped his own plea: now, as part of ex-Judge Limas’ plea deal, he’s been spilling the beans on other bad actors down in South Texas.

Like the Cameron County District Attorney, it looks like ….

Meanwhile, it just keeps getting more zany.  Villalobos took no time in getting himself a good lawyer and getting himself out on bail (betcha he’s had that lawyer on retainer and that bail strategy set up for awhile now, probably since the news got out that Lima was singing like a canary to the feds).

Then, Cameron County District Attorney Villalobos did one thing more:  he held a press conference to let everyone know that, yes, he was still running for  Congress. That’s right:  the guy has been indicted for a kitchen sink of felonies and he’s still in the race for Congressional seat 34.