Special to El Rrun-Rrun
![Image result for carlos elizondo brownsville fire chief]()
Make that 15 counts that former City of Brownsville Fire Department Chief and current Brownsville Independent School District trustee Carlos Elizondo is facing after a Cameron County grand jury indicted him with 11 felony counts of computer security breach.
The grand jury indictment was issued June 27 and charges Elizondo with accessing the Emergency Reporting System for the Brownsville Fire Department without the consent of the City of Brownsville on 11 occasions starting on Oct. 11 and ending on Nov. 23.
The indictment alleges that the city suspended Elizondo from the fire department on Oct. 9 and told him not the access the Emergency Reporting System.
![Image result for carlos elizondo brownsville fire chief]()
A grand jury indicted Elizondo last October on one count of theft by a public servant and one count of misapplication of fiduciary property based off a complaint filed against Elizondo last August by the Brownsville Fire Fighters Association.
In May, after a court hearing in that case, authorities arrested Elizondo outside of his attorney’s office on two misdemeanor charges of computer security breach, alleging Elizondo accessed the Emergency Reporting System on Nov. 20, 2017, and Nov. 23, 2017.
Elizondo is charged in the new indictment on accusations he accessed the reporting system on those days as well as on Nov. 19, Nov. 15, Nov. 14, Nov. 13, Nov. 11, Nov. 10, Nov. 9, Oct. 29 and Oct. 11.
The June 27 indictment doesn’t include any details of the nature of what Elizondo is accused of accessing in the reporting system.
This is the fourth time the former fire chief has been indicted. The original indictment from last October was dismissed after Elizondo was re-indicted for the same charges in two different indictments as opposed to a single indictment.
The misdemeanor charges are contained in a complaint rather than an indictment.
The former fire chief is accused of making improper ATM cash withdrawals totaling $8,000 from the association’s political action committee while he was its president from January 2014 to 2016. He was the fire chief at that time.
Elizondo has pleaded not guilty to all of the charges levied against him.
Meanwhile, BISD sources say that BISD Superintendent Esperanza Zendejas is holding out for two years pay (more than a $600,000 contract buyout) in return fro leaving her position, perhaps to serve as a consultant to a new interim super before finally leaving the district. The BSD has been rife with rumors about Zendejas' departure.![]()
Other rumors we have not been able to confirm is that BISD board president Cesar Lopez will resign his post pending a final decision on resigning from the board altogether. Lopez, an employee of the TASB BuyBoard, was said to have been associated with the principals in the spoiled barbacoa scandal that resulted in the suicide-death of BISD food and Nutrition Service Department Director Silverio Capsitran.
What El Rrun-Rrun has been able to confirm is that the Texas Ethics Commission has fined a PAC associated with board general counsel Baltazar Salazar for a number of election violations in the formation and expenditures and reporting of the organization's campaign activities.
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The PAC's treasurer Juan Leal, who reported his address in a vacant lot on Iowa Road and later in a Ft. Worth address, was fined $1,500.
Salazar denied any involvement with the PAC, but admitted he he was the only donor to the group with some $13,500 in receipts made out in his name. His wife Maria, daughter (?) Maria E., and his sister Judy Vela were listed as the only members of the PAC.
The PAC was formed for the express purpose of defeating the reelection bid of Catalina Presas-Garcia. The PAC paid for the mass mailouts against Presas-Garcia's candidacy, including erroneously identifying her as being delinquent on her property taxes.
Presas-Garcia sued the PAC in state court but the court removed wife Maria Salazar from the lawsuit befoer the TEC issued its findings. She also voluntarily self-dismissed a federal lawsuit claiming violations of her First Amendment rights by Salazar and the BISD.
Make that 15 counts that former City of Brownsville Fire Department Chief and current Brownsville Independent School District trustee Carlos Elizondo is facing after a Cameron County grand jury indicted him with 11 felony counts of computer security breach.The grand jury indictment was issued June 27 and charges Elizondo with accessing the Emergency Reporting System for the Brownsville Fire Department without the consent of the City of Brownsville on 11 occasions starting on Oct. 11 and ending on Nov. 23.
The indictment alleges that the city suspended Elizondo from the fire department on Oct. 9 and told him not the access the Emergency Reporting System.
A grand jury indicted Elizondo last October on one count of theft by a public servant and one count of misapplication of fiduciary property based off a complaint filed against Elizondo last August by the Brownsville Fire Fighters Association.In May, after a court hearing in that case, authorities arrested Elizondo outside of his attorney’s office on two misdemeanor charges of computer security breach, alleging Elizondo accessed the Emergency Reporting System on Nov. 20, 2017, and Nov. 23, 2017.
Elizondo is charged in the new indictment on accusations he accessed the reporting system on those days as well as on Nov. 19, Nov. 15, Nov. 14, Nov. 13, Nov. 11, Nov. 10, Nov. 9, Oct. 29 and Oct. 11.
The June 27 indictment doesn’t include any details of the nature of what Elizondo is accused of accessing in the reporting system.
This is the fourth time the former fire chief has been indicted. The original indictment from last October was dismissed after Elizondo was re-indicted for the same charges in two different indictments as opposed to a single indictment.
The misdemeanor charges are contained in a complaint rather than an indictment.
The former fire chief is accused of making improper ATM cash withdrawals totaling $8,000 from the association’s political action committee while he was its president from January 2014 to 2016. He was the fire chief at that time.
Elizondo has pleaded not guilty to all of the charges levied against him.
Meanwhile, BISD sources say that BISD Superintendent Esperanza Zendejas is holding out for two years pay (more than a $600,000 contract buyout) in return fro leaving her position, perhaps to serve as a consultant to a new interim super before finally leaving the district. The BSD has been rife with rumors about Zendejas' departure.
Other rumors we have not been able to confirm is that BISD board president Cesar Lopez will resign his post pending a final decision on resigning from the board altogether. Lopez, an employee of the TASB BuyBoard, was said to have been associated with the principals in the spoiled barbacoa scandal that resulted in the suicide-death of BISD food and Nutrition Service Department Director Silverio Capsitran.
What El Rrun-Rrun has been able to confirm is that the Texas Ethics Commission has fined a PAC associated with board general counsel Baltazar Salazar for a number of election violations in the formation and expenditures and reporting of the organization's campaign activities.
The PAC's treasurer Juan Leal, who reported his address in a vacant lot on Iowa Road and later in a Ft. Worth address, was fined $1,500.
Salazar denied any involvement with the PAC, but admitted he he was the only donor to the group with some $13,500 in receipts made out in his name. His wife Maria, daughter (?) Maria E., and his sister Judy Vela were listed as the only members of the PAC.
The PAC was formed for the express purpose of defeating the reelection bid of Catalina Presas-Garcia. The PAC paid for the mass mailouts against Presas-Garcia's candidacy, including erroneously identifying her as being delinquent on her property taxes.
Presas-Garcia sued the PAC in state court but the court removed wife Maria Salazar from the lawsuit befoer the TEC issued its findings. She also voluntarily self-dismissed a federal lawsuit claiming violations of her First Amendment rights by Salazar and the BISD.