By Juan Montoya
A petition by Cameron CountyTax Assessor-Collector Tony Yzaguirre to expunge the record of the 23 charges of which a jury in Nueces County acquitted him has been granted has been granted in the court in which he was first charged – Janet Leal's 197th District Court.
The expungement order was granted by the court following the acquittal of the county tax collector by a jury in Nueces County.
The order will mean that all records related to the arrest, trial, and investigation will be removed from the files of the district clerk's court, county, state and federal agencies.
The order was signed January 25th by Leal.
"It took more than a year and cost upwards of $100,000 to get this far," Yzaguirre said today. "Even the lead investigators were recorded as saying that there was nothing there but the prosecution still carried it to a trial. I feel sorry for the other five tax office employees who don't have the means to fight the state. I understand that they will also petition to expunge their records as well."
Yzaguirre was acquitted of eight counts of bribery, six counts of abuse of official capacity, and one count of official oppression. The court dismissed the other eight charges at the request of his attorneys.Authorities arrested him and a few of his employees in January 2016 as part of a two-year investigation dubbed "Operation Dirty Deeds."
The charges were filed when Cameron County District Attorney Luis V. Saenz was in a tight political reelection race. Observers say that Yzaguirre's indictment may have pushed Saenz over the top against challenger Carlos Masso.
The expungement order directs agencies such as the DA's Office, the Brownsville Police Department, the Texas Department of Pubic Safety, the Texas Rangers and the FBI, among others, to return all records and files subject to the order.