After pleading guilty to bribery charge, former Peñitas city manager avoids prison

McALLEN, TEXAS ( ValleyCentral ) — Former Peñitas City Manager Omar Romero avoided prison Thursday after he pleaded guilty to bribery and bankruptcy fraud charges.

During a hearing on Thursday afternoon, U.S. District Judge Ricardo Hinojosa ordered Romero to spend 10 months on what the U.S. Bureau of Prisons calls “Electronically Monitored Home Confinement” and fined him $10,000.

“This is the biggest regret of my life,” Romero said. “And, as I said, I’ll spend the rest of my life making up for it.”

Omar X. Romero, 40, of McAllen worked for the city of Peñitas from 2015 to 2021.

Romero, who had a background in business, also owned a small construction company.

THE WATER TANK

In 2017, the Agua Special Utility District had problems with water pressure.

Agua SUD declared an emergency, which allowed the utility board to bypass the competitive bidding process, and purchased a water tank from a company Romero owned.

The company, ST Infrastructure Group, charged $245,000 for 201,500-gallon water tank, pumps and other equipment.

Agua SUD agreed to buy another 201,500-gallon water tank from ST Infrastructure Group in January 2018.

ST Infrastructure Group charged $212,500 for the second water tank, according to documents Agua SUD released under the Texas Public Information Act. In August 2018, the company asked Agua SUD to pay another $31,875 to cover storage costs.

Agua SUD cut a check.

ST Infrastructure Group, however, had no storage costs. The company had just ripped off Agua SUD.

To seal the water tank deal, Romero also paid a middleman to influence members of the utility board.

Romero paid at least $42,500 to “Individual A,” which he “believed would be partially used to deliver compensation or influence to Agua SUD board members for their respective votes,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Roberto “Bobby” Lopez Jr. said during a hearing in November 2021, when Romero pleaded guilty.

Lopez didn’t identify “Individual A.” Documents filed by the government don’t include any details about the mystery middleman.

Romero also paid $6,000 to “Agua SUD Board Member A, who solicited the defendant for a benefit as consideration for Agua SUD Board Member A’s votes in connection with the Agua SUD purchase of the water tank,” Lopez said during the November 2021 hearing.

Lopez didn’t identify “Agua SUD Board Member A” and prosecutors never brought charges against the person who accepted the money.

HIDALGO COUNTY EMS

Romero also worked for Hidalgo County EMS, a privately owned ambulance company that served Peñitas and other parts of western Hidalgo County.

In 2019, when Hidalgo County EMS declared bankruptcy, Romero offered to help.

Government Asset Services, a company Romero owned, agreed to handle accounting, management and other administrative tasks for Hidalgo County EMS.

A bankruptcy judge approved the arrangement in October 2019.

While his company worked on the bankruptcy, Romero “obtained at least $50,000” from Hidalgo County EMS without authorization, Lopez said during the hearing in November 2021, when Romero pleaded guilty.

Lopez didn’t explain how, exactly, Romero obtained the $50,000 or what he did with the money.

Prosecutors also charged Kenneth B. Ponce , the former CEO of Hidalgo County EMS, with conspiracy to commit bankruptcy fraud.

Documents filed in the case against Ponce identify Romero as “Co-Conspirator B.”

“Ponce accepted an interest payment from Co-Conspirator B on the funds taken from the Hidalgo County EMS bankruptcy estate,” according to the criminal information filed against Ponce in March 2021.

Romero and Ponce didn’t report the $50,000 or the interest payment to the bankruptcy court, which violated federal law.

THE FEDERAL INVESTIGATION

After the FBI approached him, Romero cooperated with the government.

The information that Romero provided, along with other information obtained by the FBI, resulted in a major public corruption investigation.

Prosecutors brought charges against more than 10 people, including two former La Joya school board trustees and the former mayor of Peñitas .

Lopez and Romero’s attorney, Thomas J. McHugh of San Antonio, apparently discussed Romero’s cooperation during a bench conference that lasted nearly 30 minutes.

After the bench conference, Hinojosa said he wanted to acknowledge the “work” Romero did to make things right.

“And how helpful that has been,” Hinojosa said.

Hinojosa ordered Romero to spend 10 months at home subject to electronic monitoring. After the 10-month period ends, Romero must spend another four months on supervised release.

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