Morales' brother makes deal in extortion case - he'll serve 2 years for Sanchez threats in campaign

AUSTIN - The brother of former state Attorney General Dan Morales has agreed to plead guilty to a federal extortion charge that will probably result in a two-year prison sentence and could carry up to a $250,000 fine, his lawyer said Tuesday.

Under the deal, music producer Michael Morales, 40, of San Antonio will admit he threatened to make allegations public about Democratic gubernatorial candidate Tony Sanchez if the campaign of the Laredo businessman did not pay him $280,000, said defense attorney John Pinckney.

Mr. Pinckney declined to comment on the reason Mr. Morales made the threat but said his client agreed to the plea to get the matter over with. The agreement also eliminated the possibility of charges that could carry a five-year sentence, he said. Mr. Morales has implicated nobody else, sources said.

The Sanchez campaign alerted federal authorities last fall after a caller using a fictitious name threatened to divulge information about a crime Mr. Sanchez was alleged to have committed about 30 years earlier, when he was in law school in San Antonio, according to people familiar with the investigation.

A spokesman for Mr. Sanchez, an oilman and banker who lost to Gov. Rick Perry in the November election, offered limited comment on the plea agreement.

"The campaign cooperated fully with authorities in this matter," said Sanchez spokesman Mark Sanders. "We look forward to the resolution and whatever decision law enforcement makes."

Dan Morales - who lost to Mr. Sanchez in a bitter Democratic primary and then endorsed Mr. Perry, a Republican - said he supports his brother but not his deeds.

"It's bizarre," he said. "Obviously we are very disappointed to learn of Mike's actions and are saddened that he will have to bear some very serious consequences. Mike made a very big mistake."

Dan Morales said the allegation against Mr. Sanchez was brought to the attention of the Morales campaign before the primary. But he said he declined to use it because it could not be adequately corroborated by his investigators.

Michael Morales worked on his brother's campaign and had access to the investigative file, sources said.

Just after the primary, a person wrote the Perry campaign offering to sell similar information about Mr. Sanchez, Perry aides said. The sender used the same fake name as the caller to the Sanchez campaign six months later.

The caller to the Sanchez camp said he had been offered a four-year job with Mr. Perry paying $70,000 a year - thus the $280,000 demand, sources said.

Mr. Pinckney did not dispute that his client contacted the Perry campaign, but he said that was not illegal and is not a part of the plea agreement.

Michael Morales has waived his right to have a grand jury review the extortion-by-phone charge, and prosecutors will not pursue possible counts of mail and wire fraud, Mr. Pinckney said.

Under federal sentencing guidelines, a two-year term is all but guaranteed for Mr. Morales, lawyers said. In the federal prison system, unlike state penitentiaries, inmates typically serve all or most of the time assessed.

People familiar with the case say evidence gathered over several months against Mr. Morales includes tape recordings of calls the extortionist made to Sanchez campaign manager Glenn Smith, traced to a phone in Mr. Morales' control; a fax sent to the Sanchez campaign containing terms of a proposed deal; and unspecified items that federal agents seized in searching Mr. Morales' San Antonio business.

Mr. Morales launched his music-recording venture, Studio M, with his brother Ron in 1990. As a rock performer, Michael Morales had his own hits, including "Who Do You Give Your Love To" and "That's What I Like About You," which reached No. 14 and No. 28, respectively, on the Billboard pop charts in 1989.

Michael and Ron Morales have also won Grammys for producing records, most recently for Freddy Fender's 2002 album, La Musica de Baldemar Huerta.

During Dan Morales' gubernatorial campaign last year, his two brothers produced a pair of television commercials that attracted attention for their novel style: They had no spoken words, just an anti-Sanchez message displayed on the screen to a silent or bossa nova soundtrack.

Prior article on FR:

Campaign extortion claim is investigated - Dan Morales' brother suspect in scheme Re: Tony Sanchez

I must be missing something here. I would like to know what the allegations against Sanchez are, but it seems this tiny piece of information just won't come out:

The Sanchez campaign alerted federal authorities last fall after a caller using a fictitious name threatened to divulge information about a crime Mr. Sanchez was alleged to have committed about 30 years earlier, when he was in law school in San Antonio, according to people familiar with the investigation.
Investigators said they eventually assembled evidence pointing to Mr. Morales.
The allegation against Mr. Sanchez has never been substantiated.

< snip >

Dan Morales said the allegation against Mr. Sanchez was brought to the attention of the Morales campaign before the primary. But he said he declined to use it because it could not be adequately corroborated by his investigators.
Michael Morales worked on his brother's campaign and had access to the investigative file, sources said.
Just after the primary, a person wrote the Perry campaign offering to sell similar information about Mr. Sanchez, Perry aides said. The sender used the same fake name as the caller to the Sanchez campaign six months later.

< snip >

The government has sealed all records pertaining to the search.

So what the heck was 'alleged' that we're not hearing about? Why are they keeping a lid on this, and will we ever find out? What about the FOIA?...

Sign me 'Inquiring minds want to know'...

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