In yet another public corruption scandal on the Texas border, a judge in this city has been arrested on bribery and drug charges. “You’re going to leave me without my Christmas money,” the judge allegedly told investigators.
Starr County Justice of the Peace Salvador Zarate turned himself in to authorities Monday afternoon on a warrant charging him with two counts of bribery and one count of possession of a controlled substance, court records obtained by Breitbart Texas revealed.
Zarate stands accused of taking a single $500 bribe from two individuals on December 24, 2014, in exchange for lowering their bond.
The case began when a confidential informant told investigators that Zarate asked for $500 to reduce the bond of a man and a woman who had been arrested on drug charges. The bribe was to lower the bond from $30,000 to $5,000.
The informant acted as a go-between and went to deliver the $500 to Zarate in Rio Grande City while the investigators conducted a surveillance operation. Moments after the exchange, investigators went to Zarate’s vehicle to carry out a search. The judge had parked right outside of his office.
After the judge gave investigators the money, they searched the vehicle and found a small bag with cocaine which had been hidden inside a cigarette box.
[…]
