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A pair of political operatives tied to Rep. Henry Cuellar, D-Texas, have agreed to plead guilty and cooperate with the Justice Department’s bribery case against Cuellar, according to court documents unsealed this week.
Mina Colin Strother, Cuellar’s former campaign manager and chief of staff, and Florencio “Lencho” Rendon, a Texas businessman described as a “close associate” of Cuellar in court documents, both signed plea deals in March.
The Justice Department last week released an indictment accusing Cuellar and his wife, Imelda, of accepting $598,000 in bribes from foreign entities, including a Mexican bank and an oil and gas company controlled by Azerbaijan.
Strother and Rendon were both charged with conspiracy to commit money laundering in connection with the scheme.
Cuellar and Rendon are alleged to have come up with the scheme in 2015 after they learned that the bank was struggling to conduct business in the U.S. They devised a “sham consulting contract” with the bank and a plan for Rendon to funnel a majority of its proceeds to Cuellar’s wife, according to court documents.
Rendon approached Strother about a project to test and certify a fuel additive made by a Mexican company for it to be sold in the U.S., telling Strother he would pay him $11,000 monthly on the condition that Strother send $10,000 every month to Cuellar’s wife, according to court documents.
Rendon made $242,000 in monthly installment payments to Strother from March 2016 to December 2017, according to court documents. Strother used the money to make $10,000 payments every month to Cuellar’s wife, totaling $214,890, authorities say.
Eventually realizing the fuel company project “was a sham,” Strother figured out that the payments were intended to “funnel money” to Cuellar without Cuellar’s having to report it in his annual financial disclosures, according to court documents.
Rendon could face a maximum of 20 years in prison, while Strother could face up to five years.
An attorney for Cuellar told NBC News on Thursday that he wasn’t concerned about the plea deals.
“If Rendon and Strother tell the truth, we’re not worried,” said the attorney, Chris Flood.
A Justice Department spokesperson and attorney for Rendon did not immediately respond to requests for comment Thursday night.
Strother’s lawyer, Michael McCrum, referred NBC News to the statement he gave to the San Antonio Express-News.
“Colin is a good and decent man and has always cooperated with the government,” McCrum’s statement said. “He wants nothing more than for truth and justice to see the light of day.”
In a statement last week before the charges were unsealed, Cuellar denied any wrongdoing and said he had “proactively sought legal advice” from the House Ethics Committee.
“I want to be clear that both my wife and I are innocent of these allegations. Everything I have done in Congress has been to serve the people of South Texas,” he said.
He added that he will continue his bid for re-election. Two Republicans are battling for their party’s nomination in a runoff election this month. The winner will face Cuellar in the fall. Cuellar did not have a primary challenger.
Zoë Richards is the evening politics reporter for NBC News.
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