Comment from Spectator at Marchan Trial~Is Armando Villalobos, Attending, Preparing for Trial on County Time?

Mean Mister Brownsville received several reports hinting strongly that the staff of Cameron Country District Attorney Armando Villalobos was illegally using his staff to work on his congressional campaign before his indictment.

If those reports are true, it's yet another form of stealing from the taxpayers.  Of course, the fact that Villalobos never did his job as district and county attorney, looking the other way on notorious and blatant political corruption. was a serious misuse of taxpayer-furnished funds as well as a violation of the public trust.

This afternoon, I received a query that may indicate Villalobos may be, even yet, looking out for personal interests on the public dime:

"Mr. Barton, I just came from being a spectator at Federal Court House on the Marchan case. However.what shocks me the most is that our D.A., Armando Villalobos, continues to attend court proceeding and taking detailed notes as his name continues to be mentioned throughout the trial . Question:  'Why is he not attending to Cameron County duties and using taxpayer dollars to prepare for his trial?"

Yes, certainly, as the spectator pointed out, Cameron County is not getting the services of a district attorney they are paying handsomely for.  Do you really think we are getting our money's worth by the staff, the transportation, the office space, etc. we fund?  Perhaps, this is one of the reasons visiting Judge Banales, while rejecting Juan Angel Guerra's attempt to remove Villalobos from office, suggested the district attorney step down voluntarily:

""It may be a more prudent and honorable thing for Mr. Villalobos under the circumstances to voluntarily step aside on a temporary basis pending the dispositions of those charges," the judge said. "If he’s acquitted then he returns to his office. If he’s convicted, he forfeits the office."


What the judge suggests would have been a great common sense solution, but Armando Villalobos continues to act, as always, with his own self-interest as paramount.