A Texas sheriff who is the brother of U.S. Representative Henry Cuellar is facing federal fraud charges following allegations that he ran a fraudulent business using public funds and staff during the Covid-19 pandemic, The Texas Tribune reported.
The indictment, unsealed Thursday, alleges that Webb County Sheriff Martin Cuellar and his assistant chief opened a private company, Disinfect Pro Master, in April 2020 and entered into agreements with local businesses and restaurants despite “having no employees or supplies of their own,” the Tribune said.
The company later secured a $500,000 contract to clean schools in Laredo and fulfilled the work using sheriff’s department staff and resources, according to the U.S. Attorney Nicholas Ganjei of the Southern District of Texas. Prosecutors allege that Cuellar and two deputies split the profits three ways, with each receiving about $175,000, the Tribune reported.
One former deputy, Rick Rodriguez, has already pleaded guilty for his role in the scheme, the Tribune said. If convicted, Cuellar could face up to 10 years in federal prison for conspiracy and theft of federal funds, and an additional 10 years for money laundering tied to allegations that he used the proceeds to buy property in Laredo.
The indictment follows the high-profile pardoning of Martin Cuellar’s brother, Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-TX), who was indicted in May 2024 on a dozen counts including bribery, money laundering and conspiracy related to an Azerbaijan-run oil-and-gas company and a Mexican bank, the newspaper reported.
The U.S. lawmaker and his wife were set to go to trial in May when they received a presidential pardon from Donald Trump last month, the news outlet reported at the time. Rep. Cuellar is currently running for his 12thterm in Congress.
Read more at The Texas Tribune