Rep. Kino Flores Indicted

Big news from the Travis Co. District Attorney's Office: Grand jurors have returned 19 criminal counts against Texas Palmview Dem Rep. Ismael "Kino" Flores. The six indictments detail 16 counts of tampering with a government record and three counts of perjury.

This is the first big case to come out of the Travis D.A.'s Public Integrity Unit since Rosemary Lehmberg was elected last year. According to a press release from Lehmberg, the FBI helped the D.A.'s office with the investigation

Below the fold, the entire press release.

For Immediate Release July 17, 2009

Travis County District Attorney Rosemary Lehmberg today announced that Ismael "Kino" Flores, the State Representative for House District 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. Flores, 50, a resident of Palmview, Texas, has served in the Texas House of Representatives since 1997.

The Grand Jury returned six separate indictments, with each indictment relating to a financial statement for a different year starting in 2004 and continuing through 2009. 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.

Venue for prosecution of these offenses lies in Travis County because the personal financial statements were filed with the Texas Ethics Commission in Austin. The cases are being handled by the Public Integrity Unit of the Travis County District Attorney's Office. The Federal Bureau of Investigation assisted in the investigation of the case.