A Texas State Senator from San Antonio is expected to go before a federal judge on Wednesday morning to face several fraud and bribery charges in connection with two separate corruption cases. The charges were made public on Tuesday afternoon after a grand jury handed down its bills on an alleged Ponzi scheme and bribery efforts to secure contracts.
The court documents name sitting State Senator Carlos I. Uresti (D-District 19). One of the indictments charges Uresti and various other men with conspiracy to commit wire fraud, conspiracy to commit money laundering, wire fraud, and other financial crimes. A second indictment charges Uresti with one count of conspiracy to commit bribery and one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering.
Court records revealed that in one of the indictments, Uresti and other businessmen allegedly created a Ponzi scheme to market hydraulic sand for oil production. The group used a company called Four Winds to sell the sand. The businessmen allegedly spent investors’ funds on personal expenses and used new monies from follow-on investors to pay back the older stakeholders.
The second indictment alleges that from 2006 to 2016, Uresti received $10,000 a month as a marketing consultant for a company that serviced the Reeves County Correctional Facility. Uresti allegedly paid half of those transfers to a county official to secure contracts for the company.
According to information provided to Breitbart Texas by the U.S Attorney’s Office, Uresti and other defendants are expected to make their initial appearance in federal court on Wednesday morning. During that hearing, a federal magistrate judge is expected to notify them of the charges and set or deny bonds.
Uresti Farthing Indictment by Ildefonso Ortiz on Scribd
Uresti Bates Cain Indictment by Ildefonso Ortiz on Scribd
Ildefonso Ortiz is an award-winning journalist with Breitbart Texas. He co-founded the Cartel Chronicles project with Brandon Darby and Stephen K. Bannon. You can follow him on Twitter and on Facebook.