Corruption

School board trustee pleads guilty.

Nov 29, 2007 - Carlos Villa Cordova, 80, a El Paso Independent School District trustee, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit mail fraud, wire fraud and the deprivation of honest services.

Cordova resigned in August citing health reasons. Cordova is the fourth person to plead guilty as part of a widespread public corruption investigation by the FBI that began sometime in 2005.

The others are: John Travis Ketner, former chief of staff for County Judge Anthony Cobos, former County Commissioner Betti Flores, and Bernardo Lucero Jr., the vice president of Lucero/Melendez Architects. None has been sentenced, court records show.

Nov 30 - Community shocked by Cordova's plea. Cordova is a retired EPISD teacher, coach and administrator.

No other details of the criminal activities have been made public.
He is the fourth person to plead guilty to conspiracy charges in the ongoing FBI public corruption case, which started in 2005 and has implicated dozens of elected officials and community leaders in El Paso.

Cordova has not been arrested and has not been sentenced.