DOUBLE TROUBLE: Two criminal cases pending against mayor

By HEATHER CATHLEEN COX
Staff Writer
reporter@sbnewspaper.com 

Mayor Joe H. Hernandez

Two criminal cases against San Benito Mayor Joe H. Hernandez are now pending.

Hernandez waived arraignment and entered a plea of “not guilty” on Thursday, November 15, when he appeared at the 445th District Court, well before his 9 a.m. scheduled hearing. Hernandez left before seeing Judge Rolando Olvera.

The mayor declined further comment regarding his plea, stating that his attorney Reynaldo Rodriguez, Jr. of Brownsville has asked him to refrain from speaking on his own behalf. Reynaldo Rodriguez could not be reached for comment as of presstime.

The mayor turned himself into in to Cameron County officials on the morning of October 23 and currently faces third degree felony charges. The charges against Hernandez include the following: “39.02 (a) (1), which is defined as abuse of official capacity; and 37.09 (d) (2), depicted as tampering or fabricating with physical evidence….” He is free on $5,000 bond.

Specifically, Hernandez is accused of violating a conflict of interest affidavit at a July 11, 2011 city commission meeting. Hernandez still participated in discussion, which involved mobile vendors, proposing ordinance 2385-A. These matters stem from Hernandez allowing Noe’s Tropical Sno-Wiz stand to operate on his barbershop property on Robertson St., without paying the City of San Benito for water. He is duly charged with “intent to impair its investigation availability” when removing said stand.

Hernandez, who claims his innocence, is scheduled to stand trial on January 14.

In addition to aforementioned charges, also on Thursday, charges filed against the mayor by former San Benito City Commissioner Ricardo R. Rodriguez were turned over to the Cameron County District Attorney’s office.

Rodriguez alleges that Hernandez was parked in front of the former commissioner’s residence on the late morning of October 27, snapping photographs of Rodriguez’s property.

Rodriguez has said that he approached the mayor’s green truck. It was at this point that Rodriguez said Hernandez made terroristic threats against not only Rodriguez but also Alfonso Benavides, the man who initially filed an ethics complaint against the mayor on January 20 of this year. The complaint resulted in Hernandez’s indictment on abuse of official capacity, for which he will stand trial in January.

Rodriguez further alleges that the mayor’s threats stemmed from Rodriguez offering housing to Benavides.

Specifically, Rodriguez accuses the mayor of threatening to “get rid” of both him and Benavides and burn them out of their houses following the outcome of Hernandez’s indictment.

In response to this accusation, Hernandez said in an exclusive interview with the News on November 6, “Do you think I would be trying to get myself in deeper after what I’m already dealing with?” The mayor, who denied the allegations being made, said “If there’s a witness, then let him come forward.”

Said witness, Abel Garcia, 81, of San Benito, came forward on November 13.

Garcia claims that while at a Harlingen eatery on October 27, Hernandez “showed me his professional camera, said this is my professional camera. He showed me the picture of him (Rodriguez)…he said I’m gonna get this guy. He’s gonna be sorry.”

Hernandez, who has previously acknowledged he was in front of Rodriguez’s residence, also acknowledges showing Garcia a photograph but denied a conversation taking place at any eatery. Instead, the mayor said he showed Garcia the picture at Garcia’s home.

On Thursday, Nov. 15, San Benito Assistant Police Chief of Operations Michael Galvan said, “At 1:30 p.m., SBPD Detective Michael Cortez handed over the case (between Hernandez and Rodriguez) to the District Attorney’s office. It’s up to them whether they will prosecute.”

Galvan added, “The investigation took its course, we gathered all of the information we needed and we submitted it just like any other case.”

Read this story in the Nov. 18 edition of the San Benito News, or subscribe to our E-Edition by clicking here.