Texas sheriff Martin Cuellar, brother of Rep. Henry Cuellar, indicted on fraud charges

A Texas border sheriff who is the brother of Democratic U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar has been indicted on charges of misusing public funds during the COVID-19 pandemic to run a private disinfecting business, the Justice Department announced Thursday.

Webb County Sheriff Martin Cuellar Jr. appeared in federal court in Texas on charges of fraud and conspiracy and was released on bond. He has pleaded not guilty, and his attorney denied that the sheriff was involved in the business.

Martin Cuellar has been the county sheriff since 2009, four years after Henry Cuellar was sworn into Congress. In December, President Donald Trump pardoned the congressman and his wife in a federal bribery and conspiracy case, citing what the president called a ''weaponized'' justice system.

Four days after the pardon, Trump criticized the congressman on Truth Social for ''a lack of LOYALTY'' because the congressman didn't switch parties to run for reelection this year.

Eric Reed, the sheriff's attorney who had also previously represented Henry Cuellar, called the charges against Martin Cuellar baseless.

''They're, we believe, based on some untrue assumptions and narratives that have been fueled perhaps by politics and local rivalries,'' Reed said. ''My hope is that the decision to charge Sheriff Cuellar and the timing of the charges was not influenced by politics at any level.''

A federal grand jury indicted the sheriff on five felony charges in November, and the indictment was unsealed Thursday when he made his first court appearance. He faces up to 10 years in prison if convicted.

According to the indictment, Cuellar ''deemed himself a silent partner'' but devised the scheme to operate a for-profit business with resources from the county sheriff's office, including supplies, vehicles, equipment and personnel, without reimbursing the county.

The indictment alleges that Cuellar and the two other men each made more than $175,000 from the business, most of it from the school district contract.

The sheriff faces three counts of defrauding a local government that receives federal funds, one count of conspiracy and one count of making a financial transaction involving ''criminally derived property'' by using $71,000 in proceeds from the business to buy a 10-acre property.

Reed said prosecutors must show that he knew county property was being misappropriated and intended it to happen.

''Our investigation reveals that just the opposite is true, that he didn't know,'' he said.