The Privately-owned East Hidalgo Detention Center in La Villa Texas is a Jail Party House

Sixth La Villa ex-guard arraigned on bribery charge

Published: 20 Dec., 2019

The indictment against a sixth former employee of the East Hidalgo Detention Center in La Villa was unsealed Thursday in federal court.

Domingo Gonzalez Hernandez, 25, of Mercedes, was arraigned before U.S. Magistrate Judge J. Scott Hacker on Friday morning on the sole charge of bribery of a public official.

According to the indictment, Hernandez, who worked as a correctional officer at the federal prison, is accused of accepting a Chevrolet pickup truck, a gift card and money in exchange for bringing contraband into the facility and distributing it to inmates there.

Federal prosecutors allege Hernandez accepted the bribes between September 2016 and July 28, 2018, the indictment reads. He has pleaded not guilty to the charge.

Hacker set Hernandez’s bond at $30,000 with a $1,000 deposit, and required he obtain a court-approved third-party custodian. Court records show the bond deposit was posted Friday after-noon.

The case has been assigned to U.S. District Judge Randy Crane, with a final pretrial conference slated for Jan. 31, 2020. Jury selection is set for Feb. 4, 2020.

Hernandez faces up to 15 years in federal prison, up to a $250,000 fine and up to three years of supervised release.

Hernandez has now become the sixth former employee of the detention center to be charged with wrongdoing in recent weeks.

While the other five men and women made their initial appearances in McAllen federal court late last month, Hernandez was first brought before a judge in New Mexico, according to a statement released by the U.S. Attorney’s Office on Nov. 26.

Four of the other people charged also face federal bribery charges, including: Jayson Catalan, 37; Erasmo Loya, 54; Veronica Ortega, 43; and Jhaziel Loredo, 32. A second woman, 47-year-old Brenda Alicia Fuentes, is accused of sexually abusing an inmate in federal custody.

Catalan, Loya, Ortega and Loredo are all accused of accepting varying amounts of money in ex-change for smugglings contraband into the facility for prisoners. The contraband ranged from food, to marijuana to Xanax pills, according to the indictments.

Fuentes is accused of carrying out a sexual relationship with an inmate, allegedly performing oral sex on him.

During their bond and detention hearings on Nov. 26 and 27, U.S. Magistrate Judge Juan F. Alanis set bond for the five men and women at $30,000 each, including a $500 deposit for all but Fuentes.

The trials against Loya, Fuentes, Ortega and Loredo are set to go before U.S. District Judge Micaela Alvarez early next month, while Catalan’s trial will be heard by U.S. District Judge Ricardo H. Hinojosa.

Owned by The Geo Group, the private prison houses federal inmates under a contract with the U.S. Marshals Service. Its staff is also responsible for the transportation of U.S. Immigration Customs and Enforcement detainees.

In a statement released via email last month, a spokesperson for The GEO Group said the prison company had terminated the men and women after their arrests.

“We will continue to cooperate with law enforcement as they investigate the matter,” the statement read.

Texas Jail employees charged with taking bribes

Published date; Nov. 25, 2019

A group of employees at a GEO Group-run correctional facility face federal charges for bribery and sexual abuse, records show.

A detention hearing is set for Wednesday afternoon for former employees of the East Hidalgo Detention Center in La Villa who have been accused of taking bribes in order to smuggle contraband into the facility and an accusation of sexual abuse from one former employee.

Former correctional officers, Erasmo Edwardo Loya, 54, of Pharr, Jayson Gino Catalan, 36, of Mercedes, Jhaziel Enrique Loredo, 32, of Weslaco; along with Brenda Fuentes, 47, of Weslaco, a former cook supervisor, and Veronica Ortega, 43, of McAllen, a former certified medical assistant at the jail, each face federal charges of bribery, while Fuentes faces one count of sexual abuse of a ward, documents show.

The group was indicted Nov. 19 and arrested Nov. 22. They were terminated after their respective arrests, according to an email response from GEO Group, which owns the East Hidalgo Detention Center, a 1,300-bed facility.

“We can confirm that all of these employees were terminated from their positions shortly after their arrests. We will continue to cooperate with law enforcement as they investigate the matter,” the GEO Group spokesman stated.

According to the unsealed indictment against Loya, between Nov. 2016 and June 2019, he allegedly accepted bribes, specifically cash, and brought in contraband into the facility.

Loredo is also accused of taking cash bribes in exchange for bringing in contraband into the facility from Oct. 2018 to August 2019; while Catalan is accused of doing the same thing, between Jan. 2019 and July 31, 2019, records show.

Ortega, a nurse at the facility, is accused of taking bribes in exchange for bringing in contraband items between April 19, 2019 and May 19, 2019.

Fuentes, the cook supervisor, is accused of sexually abusing a ward who was not named but identified with the initials R.R.H. between July 30, 2019 and Aug. 8, 2019, according to the indictment. 

“(Fuentes) an employee at the East Hidalgo Detention Center, did knowingly engage in a sexual act, to wit, the contact between the mouth and genitals with federal inmate R.R.H., who was during this time in official detention and under the custodial, supervisory, and disciplinary authority of (Fuentes)..” the document stated.

It is likely one more person will be named in connection with the aforementioned defendants, as one case remained sealed as of Monday afternoon.

Fuentes and Loredo are scheduled before U.S. Magistrate Judge Juan F. Alanis for their respective detention hearings, while Catalan, Loya, and Ortega will appear before Alanis on Wednesday afternoon, court notes show.

If convicted, the defendants face up to 15 years in prison and up to $250,000 fine.