$876 thousand in legal fees from Guerra's lawsuits hang over taxpayers

An estimated $876,000 in attorney's fees that Willacy County is starting to pay stems from dozens of civil and criminal cases that District Attorney Juan Angel "Johnny" Guerra has initiated due to a dispute he started with fellow elected officials.

The dispute revolves around an assertion by Guerra that Connie & Fina's Bail Bond Company is over their bail bond writing limit of $525,000. However an initial accounting by the county's district clerk and county clerk's offices show that Connie and Fina is not over their bond writing limit.

The controversy has started a political war between five fellow elected officials, and has stopped the criminal justice system from operating in the county.

The officials include Guerra, Sheriff Larry Spence, District Clerk Gilbert Lozano, County Clerk Terry Flores, and 197th District Judge Migdalia Lopez, all members of the Willacy County Bail Bond Board.

The Chronicle/News has estimated the total number of lawsuits and Guerra-caused criminal cases at 43, and tabulated the legal fees at $876,000, which does not include any future civil damages that Willacy County taxpayers could incur.

Guerra has filed 98 percent of the civil lawsuits against his colleagues for what appears to be a simple-to-resolve accounting issue.

A fierce round of criminal charges, criminal indictments, and retaliatory criminal charges started last February and March after a criminal investigation of Guerra was launched in January of last year.

The investigation was initiated by Judge Lopez after a 2006 grand jury cited nine concerns about Guerra's interactions with them as district attorney. Five of the nine concerns involve Connie & Fina.

The judge appointed special prosecutors Gustavo Garza and Mervyn Mosbacher to investigate the allegations.

Guerra caused himself to be arrested the first time last February, after he interfered with a search warrant being conducted by Raymondville Police and the Willacy County Sheriff's department.

He then filed cross-criminal charges against those who arrested him; Garza, Police Chief Uvaldo Zamora, and sheriff's Chief Deputy David Martinez.

The initial round of criminal charges against Guerra and the retaliatory criminal charges filed by Guerra have all been dismissed, after hundreds of thousands in legal fees were incurred.

The embattled district attorney was arrested a second time after a grand jury indicted him on four felony charges, that are still outstanding; abuse of office, two counts of theft by a public servant, and tampering with governmental records.

Presiding District Judge J. Manuel Banales, elected to handle the criminal cases against the elected officials, after Judge Lopez voluntarily recused herself.

"These kinds of cases have made Willacy County the laughing stock of the state and the nation," said Judge Banales, at a recent court preceding in Raymondville. "I get telephone calls from around the country that I can't answer."

To date, an independent accounting of the bail bond writing limit question raised by Guerra has yet to be performed, so it is still unknown whether the county's sole bail bond company is under or over their limit.

Meanwhile the attorneys fees continue to mount up. Invoices for about half of the estimated $876,000 have been received by the county

Treasurer Ruben Cavazos said the county has paid out $198,195 thus far. There is another $247,000 in legal bills waiting to be paid by commissioners court. E-mail comments on this story to; robert@raymondvillechroniclenews.com