Two ex-colleagues of Rep. Henry Cuellar accept arrangement in connection with a corruption scandal.
In March, Mina Colin Strother, Cuellar's previous campaign manager and chief of staff, and Florencio "Lencho" Rendon, a political advisor and business owner in San Antonio, both agreed to plead guilty to conspiracy to carry out money laundering.
Cuellar and his spouse, Imelda, were charged last week with accepting almost $600,000 in bribes from two external parties: a bank based in Mexico City and an oil and gas company owned by the government of Azerbaijan.
Both the congressman and his wife have entered not guilty pleas. Cuellar has claimed his innocence publicly, stating in a statement last week, "My wife and I are innocent of these accusations. Everything I've done in Congress has been to serve the people of South Texas."
The court records indicate that Rendon and Cuellar devised the bribery scheme in 2015 after discovering that the Mexican bank required assistance with operations in the United States. Rendon then signed a bogus "consulting contract" for $15,000 a month with the bank.
The majority of the funds were ultimately delivered to the Cuellar household, the prosecutors claim. However, Rendon thought it was unwise to send money directly to Imelda, so he recommended hiring Strother as an intermediary.
The alleged arrangement involved Rendon transferring $11,000 each month to Strother, with Strother then sending $10,000 to a company owned by Imelda Cuellar, according to court records.
From March 2016 until February 2018, Strother allegedly sent Imelda Cuellar nearly $215,000, according to court records.
The Cuellars are not identified in Strother and Rendon's plea deal agreements, but their case numbers are noted as associated cases to Cuellar's in the court records. The specific facts detailed in the plea agreements precisely mirror details in the indictment against Cuellar.
CNN has attempted to contact attorneys for Rendon and Strother for comment, as well as an attorney for Cuellar.
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In relation to the corruption scandal, lencho Rendon, a political advisor and business owner, entered into a consulting contract with a Mexican bank that required assistance with operations in the United States. The agreement involved Rendon transferring funds to Mina Colin Strother, Cuellar's former campaign manager and chief of staff, who then sent a portion of the money to a company owned by Imelda Cuellar, the congressman's spouse.
Source: edition.cnn.com
