Two Edcouch city leaders are facing federal conspiracy and bribery charges following their arrest Wednesday.

Channel 5 News has since learned their arrests stem from a business owned by a former FBI informant. 

According to a federal indictment against Edcouch City Manager Victor De La Cruz and Mayor Pro-Tem Rene Flores, both men allegedly paid $6,000 to a Brownsville company for marketing services for the city in 2019.

READ MORE: Edcouch city manager, mayor pro-tem arrested on federal bribery charges

Both men then received $2,000 in kickback payments, the indictment stated.

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.

Pink Ape Media owner Rodrigo Moreno has worked with several high-profile political campaigns and projects across the Rio Grande Valley, and he is no stranger to a federal courtroom.

In 2020, Moreno testified against former Brownsville ISD trustee Sylvia Atkinson during her federal bribery case.

Atkinson was on trial, accused of accepting thousands of dollars from a film company in exchange for permission to film on school district property. She then used her position to attempt to persuade other Brownsville ISD trustees to approve the request from the film producer.

RELATED STORY: FBI informant testifies about secret recordings in Sylvia Atkinson bribery case

The producer was actually an undercover agent in a sting operation.

As an FBI informant, Moreno testified that he recorded Atkinson accepting $6,000. The testimony was considered key to Atkinson’s conviction on similar bribery charges that De La Cruz and Flores are now facing.

Atkinson is set to be released in June 2025 after serving only four years out of her sentence of six and a half years.

If convicted, De La Cruz and Flores face up to 10 years in federal prison and a possible $250,000 fine