The Hidalgo County Sheriff TMs Office blocked auditors from investigating whether or not former Sheriff Lupe Trevio TMs administration allowed county workers to fraudulently report they worked extra hours ” and rack up so-called comp time they could spend campaigning for him.
Allegations about time card tampering at the Sheriff TMs Office prompted County Auditor Raymundo Ray Eufracio to review payroll records last year.
Chief Deputy Mario Lopez, though, rejected a request from the Auditor TMs Office to interview Sheriff TMs Office employees.
We were trying to ascertain whether any public funds ” county funds ” were used for non-county purposes, Eufracio said.
The County Auditor TMs Office released the nine-page audit report on Friday.
Several former Sheriff TMs Office employees have alleged the Trevio administration allowed employees to fraudulently report they worked extra hours and spend the resulting compensatory time campaigning for the sheriff.
The Auditor TMs Office included three allegations in the report:
Former Deputy Fabian Rodriguez, who pleaded guilty in the Panama Unit corruption scandal, testified about time card tampering during the October 2013 trial of former Deputy Jorge Garza.
“We would make up comp time to go and ” to campaign stuff, what not,” Rodriguez said, according to the trial transcript.
Attorney Lilly Ann Gutierrez attempted to clarify what happened.
“And so by making up comp time, that means that you would work extra so that you would have hours on reserve,” Gutierrez said, according to the trial transcript. “And then you could use those hours in order to campaign, correct?”
Rodriguez responded that he and other Sheriff TMs Office employees would alter the time sheets, saying they stayed late when they hadn’t.
“And that was at the direction of who?” Gutierrez said.
“Commander Padilla,” Rodriguez said, referencing former Sheriff’s Office Cmdr. Jose Padilla.
Cmdr. Padilla, who himself pleaded guilty to working with a Weslaco-based drug trafficker named Tomas El Gallo Gonzalez, talked about the time card tampering allegations during a videotaped interview with anti-corruption activists.
They’d have to work extra hours, to accumulate ” so they can work the two-week period for elections and Election Day, which totals about 88 hours, Padilla said, according to the videotaped interview with private investigator Robert Caples and attorney Javier Pea.
Both Caples and Pea work with the American Protections Specialists, a secretive anti-corruption organization.
After Padilla reported to federal prison, Eufracio watched the videotaped interview and included the former commander TMs allegations in the audit report.
Not to mention extra time ” I allowed for them to earn extra ” to go put up signs together, put up signs or run errands, Padilla said, according to the videotaped interview. So I needed some of them to earn 140, 160 hours.
In the video, the anti-corruption activists ask Padilla whether or not Sheriff TMs Office employees actually worked the extra hours.
No, they probably falsified their time sheets, Padilla said, according to the videotaped interview. Because they didn’t put in the hours, but they still went out there and did what they had to do.
Former Deputy Gerardo Vela also alleged the Trevio administration coerced deputies to campaign for him.
Trevio himself didn TMt approve employee time sheets and wasn TMt available to comment on the allegations against him. He pleaded guilty to laundering drug money and is currently serving a five-year prison sentence in Pensacola, Florida.
Without the ability to interview Sheriff TMs Office employees, auditors couldn TMt confirm or debunk the time card tampering allegations.
This is the first time we TMve had that, Eufracio said, adding that he couldn TMt recall another county department rejecting a request from auditors to interview employees.
According to the Sheriff TMs Office, allowing auditors to speak with employees could have jeopardized other investigations, according to the audit report.
We received correspondence from the chief deputy notifying us that he had concerns the interviews would interfere with internal and external investigations currently being conducted by law enforcement, according to the audit report. Therefore, we could not determine whether or not employees were properly authorized to work and properly compensated.
Sheriff Eddie Guerra said he supported the decision.
His job is to audit the time sheets, Guerra said. And not to do investigations. That TMs our job.
The corruption scandal that sent Trevio to prison spawned both internal and external law enforcement investigations, which included the time card tampering allegations, Guerra said.
If the auditor has specific allegations, he TMs more than welcome to bring those to us, Guerra said. Or if he wants to go to an independent agency, he TMs more than welcome to.
The Auditor TMs Office didn TMt wait for Guerra TMs invitation.
In the report, Eufracio recommends an independent investigation.
Furthermore, a review should be conducted by an independent law enforcement agency to determine if any county resources were used for non-county business, according to the audit report. We would like to express our appreciation to the Sheriff TMs Office staff for the assistance provided to us during the audit.
