An aide to Rep. Henry Cuellar and a political and business consultant have agreed to plead guilty to conspiring to help the Texas Democratic congressman launder more than $200,000 in bribes and assist prosecutors in a federal criminal investigation, according to court documents released this week. week .
Federal court records show that Mina Colin Strother, a former congressional aide to Cuellar, and Florencio “Lencho” Rendon, a political and business strategist, pleaded guilty in March. Rendon and Strother pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit money laundering and face up to 20 years in prison and up to five years in prison, respectively, and fines. His plea agreements also guarantee his cooperation in the Justice Department's investigation into Cuéllar and his wife.
The guilty pleas were first reported by the San Antonio Express-News.
Cuellar and his wife, Imelda Rios Cuellar, have been accused on more than a dozen charges alleging they accepted nearly $600,000 in bribes from a Mexican bank and an oil company owned by the government of Azerbaijan in exchange for promoting the interests of the bank and the energy company . Federal prosecutors allege the bribes were laundered in the form of bogus consulting contracts through shell companies and intermediaries in shell companies owned by Imelda Cuéllar. The congressman's wife, according to the indictment, “performed little or no legitimate work” under the consulting contracts.
Rendon knew the contract was a “sham consulting contract” and that the $15,000 monthly payments were made to funnel money to Cuellar, Rendon's plea agreement said.
Rendon would send $11,000 a month to Strother, who in turn would transfer monthly payments to the Cuellars of $10,000. From March 2016 to February 2018, Strother transferred nearly $215,000 to the Cuellars, according to court documents.
The Cuellars have pleaded not guilty and were released on unsecured bond. Cuéllar has publicly insisted on his innocence.
— Rob Legare and Melissa Quinn contributed to this report
