| I'm not disappointed or surprised to hear the news today that Rep. "Kino" Flores from HD-36 in Hidalgo County, was indicted by a Travis County Grand Jury for failing to disclose sources of income, gifts received, real estate holdings and sales of certain real properties in the personal financial statement that he is required to file each year as a state officer.
The Grand Jury returned six separate indictments, with each indictment relating to a financial statement for a different year starting in 2004 and continuing through2 009. The six indictments contain a total of 16 counts of tampering with a governmental record and three counts of perjury.
The income that Flores failed to disclose exceeded $152,000 in 2004, $125,000 in 2005, $115,000 in 2006, $135,000 in 2007, $185,000 in 2008 and $135,000 in 2009. One count also alleges that he failed to disclose income a dependant child received from HillCo Partners, an Austin lobby firm. The real estate and sales of property that he is alleged to have failed to disclose include a lot in Hidalgo County, a cabin on the inter-coastal waterway in Cameron County, a small ranch in Hidalgo County, a residence in Mission, a condominium in Austin, land in Bastrop County and a residence in Austin. The indictments also allege that he failed to disclose certain gifts, including trips on a plane owned by the LaMantia family in 2007 and an ownership interest in a racehorse given to a dependent child by a lobbyist in 2004.
Tampering with a governmental record is a state jail felony punishable by 180 days to two years in state jail and a fine of up $10,000. Perjury is a class A misdemeanor punishable by up to one year in jail and a fine of up to $4,000.
While these charges have little to nothing to do with Tom Craddick, it could mean the fall of a second of three Democrats once targeted by the Too Close to Craddick PAC. |
