Source:
Houston ChronicleJune 24, 2007, 1:51AM
Federal bribery probe grips El Paso
Investigation links several city leaders to corruption, multiple plots
By GARY SCHARRER
Copyright 2007 Houston Chronicle Austin Bureau
EL PASO — Alleged bribery payoffs plotted in a bathroom stall. A truckload of county records hauled off by FBI agents. A guilty plea that alleges routine corruption by a web of current and former officials.
This city of 735,000 has been riveted by a federal bribery investigation targeting a chain of suspects, including a former White House appointee.
"It's the Manhattan Project for the El Paso FBI," said one federal agent working the case, referring to the mammoth 1940s effort to develop the atomic bomb.
So far, the former chief of staff for El Paso County Judge Anthony Cobos has pleaded guilty to four counts of conspiracy and fraud, admitting his involvement in alleged payoffs for county contracts.
(snip)
Ketner also described Arturo Duran, who was President Bush's former appointee to the International Boundary and Water Commission, as the "bag man" for several alleged bribery schemes.
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