Edcouch mayor pro-tem and the city manager have been taken into custody on public corruption charges, according to U.S. Attorney Alamdar Hamdani.

Hamdani said City Manager Victor Hugo De La Cruz, 40, and Mayor Pro-Tem Rene Flores, 60, have a court date scheduled for Friday after a federal grand jury returned the four-count indictment.

The indictment alleges that from June to September 2019, De La Cruz and Flores solicited bribe payments from the owner of a Brownsville business that provides marketing services throughout the Rio Grande Valley, according to Hamdani.

According to the charges, the Brownsville business owner allegedly received two separate $3,000 payments for marketing work for the city of Edcouch and in return, he made two $1,000 kickback payments to Flores.

The indictment didn’t list the company, but Channel 5 News reached out to Edcouch City Attorney Roel Gutierrez, who identified the company as Pink ape Media.

According to Gutierrez, the federal government recently issued a subpoena against the city for all communication between them and Pink Ape Media.  

Hamdani said De La Cruz and Flores are charged with conspiracy, bribery concerning programs receiving federal funds and use of a facility in interstate commerce in furtherance of bribery.

If convicted, De La Cruz and Flores face up to 10 years in federal prison and a possible $250,000 fine on the bribery charges and five years for conspiracy and use of a facility in interstate commerce.

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