Earlier this week City of Penitas Mayor was charged with bribery and fraud. Rodrigo Lopez (38) was taking into custody by authorities as he was reentering the country through a Port of Entry in Hidalgo County.

According to the indictment, Mayor Rodrigo Lopez paid cash to an employee at La Joya Independent School District for approving purchases to his company Xizaka, LLC. The purchases made from Xizaka, LLC from March 2018 to August 2018 totaled over $70,000. Lopez plead not guilty to the charges. United States Judge Nadia S. Medrano set bond at $50,000 and ordered the surrender of his passport.

This was the latest indictment in a wide spread FBI investigation in Hidalgo County. The City of Penitas have had their Mayor, Councilman, City Manager and Chief of Staff indicted over the past year. The Chief of Staff Andres Morales has a history of incidents with law. The FBI investigations have yielded ten individuals under indictments that include La Joya ISD school board trustees, four businessman and a local engineering firm.

Source: United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Texas and Progress Times