Posted on 03/09/2010 2:40:08 PM PST by SwinneySwitch
McALLEN Sylvia Handy has maintained since her arrest last year that she never violated the trust of the voters who elected her to office.
And despite pleading guilty to felony tax fraud and conspiracy charges, she is expected to resign her office today standing by that declaration.
More on Slyvia Handy
During a court hearing Monday heavy on semantics, the four-term county commissioner managed to admit to a federal judge that she lied on her taxes and put an undocumented immigrant on the county payroll while at the same time insisting that she never knowingly did anything wrong.
She effectively confessed to a series of federal crimes without acknowledging ever having any criminal intent.
Im pleading guilty to the conspiracy, not the manner and means of that conspiracy, Handy said, attempting to explain the self-drawn distinctions to U.S. District Judge Ricardo Hinojosa.
At times, the judge appeared frustrated by the logic presented by the sobbing 52-year-old woman and the delicate legal safe haven her attorney attempted to draw for her.
The courts not interested in you not admitting things that are so obvious anyone can see it, Hinojosa said. If you dont want to plead guilty just say so, but dont stand here and lie about it.
ALLEGED WRONGDOING
Mondays plea cut short preparations for a trial slated to include testimony from current and former county employees and tape recorded conversations in which the commissioner allegedly implicated herself in trying to disrupt ongoing state and federal investigations. A panel of more than 60 jurors who had been called for a trial setting that morning waited in a separate courtroom while government and defense lawyers rushed to hammer out their disagreements in a last-minute deal.
In a sprawling 65-page indictment, federal prosecutors had accused Handy of putting at least three undocumented immigrants who worked as her personal housekeepers and babysitters on the payroll of her Precinct 1 office.
Even though they never did any work for the county, the women collectively took home $200,000 in salary and retirement benefits over a period of six years, the document states.
But Handy only admitted Monday to illegally hiring one of the women an undocumented immigrant named Beatriz Garcia and claimed in court not to have known the woman had no legal right to work in the country until after she had resigned her government job.
Throughout her employment, Garcia applied for and worked under three different assumed identities between May 2001 and March 2007 and was paid more than $16,000 in taxpayer money, said Assistant U.S. Attorney Daniel Rodriguez.
Handy even named her employee of the month July 2004, three years before Hidalgo County sheriffs deputies and FBI agents began their investigation into the commissioners hiring practices.
While Garcia was taking home her government checks, Handy was claiming child care tax credits for the babysitting services Garcia allegedly performed in her home, prosecutors said.
AN HONEST MISTAKE
However, Handys attorney Al Alvarez described his clients relationship with Garcia differently.
The woman the daughter of a long-time Precinct 1 maintenance employee applied for and took over her fathers job after he left his position in 2001.
Garcia did file fraudulent paperwork to secure her employment, but Handy had no idea that she was working under fake names and no reason to suspect she was undocumented, he said.
Her father was a U.S. citizen, her sister was a U.S. citizen, she graduated from Weslaco High School and she spoke perfect English, he said.
And despite government allegations that Garcia actually worked in Handys home, Alvarez maintained that it was actually Garcias sister who performed most of Handys housekeeping and babysitting duties.
The reality is she didnt live with the commissioner, he said. She took care of the children for two weeks while her sister went to visit relatives in Mexico.
When pressed on why she was still pleading guilty while claiming ignorance of Garcias situation, Handy told the judge that she had unknowingly conspired with Garcias father to help the woman gain employment with the county.
The tax credit she claimed for Garcias child care services under a fourth assumed name was merely an oversight, her attorney said. Handy forgot to change her tax forms to reflect that a prior babysitter was no longer working in their home.
TRUTH IN SENTENCING
Legally, the differing stories offered by government and defense lawyers Monday dont matter much. No matter how the facts are interpreted, Handy will now have a felony record and be forced to resign her office.
But the distinction may have a significant impact on her sentencing. She could face no jail time or up to 10 years in prison at a hearing scheduled for June 23.
Where her fate lands on that scale will largely depend on how Hinojosa, the judge, interprets her plea.
As part of her agreement with prosecutors, government lawyers agreed to recommend a reduced sentence, drop their case against Handys husband, and abandon efforts to recover $219,000 in criminal forfeiture proceedings.
The conspiracy count to which she pleaded was also the only one in her indictment which did not suggest she committed the crime for the purpose of commercial advantage and private gain a factor that would increase the range of punishment under federal sentencing guidelines.
And while the federal system allows judges to take into account relevant criminal conduct not included in the specific counts to which a defendant pleads, Alvarez made clear Monday that his client was not admitting to any public corruption allegations a distinction Hinojosa drew sharply in court.
Neither one of these charges is a public corruption charge, he said. One wonders why other charges werent brought, but they werent.
Hinojosa allowed Handy to remain free on bond pending her sentencing on the condition that she immediately resign her elected office.
And for the long-time public servant, that may be the harshest punishment she will face, Alvarez said.
She has been elected four different times, he said. Shes the first female commissioner in the history of Hidalgo County. She has a lot of supporters.
She feels like she let them down by the fact that she pleaded guilty, but it was a decision only she could make.
Amazing!
Joe Schmoe (R-Texas) today continued to protest his innocent despite pleading guilty to...
Anyone see the difference between this and the OP article? Anyone?
Geeezzee SS.. I saw the headline and I thought your neighbor needed bail...again
A tad too far south.
Which democrat?
Well ya there’s that but, all I saw was south texas and pleads guilty and my fertile mind took over from there...
Ping!
If you want on, or off this S. Texas/Mexico ping list, please FReepMail me.
BTT
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