Wearing his customary white shirt and black slacks, Rubio went before 370th state District Court Judge Noe Gonzalez for the post-trial hearing. For the first time since the trial, Rubio wore shackles during the hearing.

Last week, a Hidalgo County jury recommended that Rubio be executed via lethal injection after he was found guilty of four counts of capital murder for the murders of his common-law wife Angela Camacho’s three children, Julissa Quesada, 3, John Esteban Rubio, 14 months, and Mary Jane Rubio, 2 months, in 2003.

Gonzalez briefly stated that the sentencing documents had been changed to address a technicality. He said that Rubio would only be sentenced to death three times for the murders of the children because the fourth count was only a combination of the murders.

Gonzalez then sentenced Rubio to death on counts one, two and three.

“I have signed the judgement Mr. Rubio,” Gonzalez said. “I said my piece on Thursday; I have nothing else to say on that matter.”

After the sentencing, the judge notified Rubio that Nat C. Perez Jr. and Ed Stapleton would not be his attorneys for the appeal process. The representation for the process will fall on the hands of William Hubbard from McAllen and on David A. Schulman from Austin.

During the hearing, McAllen area attorney Jonathan Ball stood in for Hubbard, stating that he was out of town. Ball asked Gonzalez if they could hold Rubio in Cameron County for 10 days to allow time for Hubbard to return and meet with Rubio.

Gonzalez then ordered that Rubio be held at the Carrizalez-Rucker Detention Center until Aug. 11. He will then be transferred to the Polunsky Unit in Livingston, where he will be housed on death row.

Ildefonso Ortiz is a reporter for The Brownsville Herald

Brownsville Mayor Pat M. Ahumada was arrested on one count of driving while intoxicated by Brownsville police early this morning.

Ahumada confirmed his DWI arrest in an interview with The Brownsville Herald.

He was arraigned before Municipal Judge Ben Neece and released on a $3,500 personal recognizance bond.

“I’m disappointed about the incident,” Ahumada said, but added, “I’m not admitting to anything.”

Ahumada said he was driving in the early morning hours when he was stopped by police officers.

“I was coming from a friend’s house,” the mayor said.

He said he was taken to the police department, processed and taken to a city cell. “They followed the procedures. I didn”t ask for any considerations,” the mayor added. “Everybody has a job to do and I respect that,” the mayor said.

This is Ahumada’s third DWI arrest in a period of two decades.

He was first charged in July 1987 on a driving while intoxicated charge. He pleaded guilty to the charge on Feb. 26, 1988, and signed a written waiver of jury.

He was ordered to serve six months probation, attend 10 hours of alcohol awareness classes, abstain from consumption of alcoholic beverages and maintain automobile liability insurance. Ahumada paid $85 in court costs and a $100 fine.

“I had just lost my wife and daughter. I fell into depression,” Ahumada said in a 2007 interview. “I began to drink.”

According to funeral records, Ahumada’s wife, Adriana Gloria Ahumada, was killed in a car accident on Dec. 10, 1987. His daughter drowned in April 1986 while swimming in the family’s pool.

“It’s part of life, unfortunately,” he said. “Sometimes those things happen.”

He was arrested on another DWI charge in 2003, 10 years after he resigned from the mayor’s office to unsuccessfully seek the county judge’s seat. The charge was later dismissed.

For more on this developing story, stay with the Brownsville Herald.

Edgar Reyes, 33, of Brownsville, remains in custody following his arraignment on one count of intoxication manslaughter. His bond was set at $300,000.

The accident happened at 11:40 a.m. Saturday at the 700 block of South Indiana. Police said Brenda Gomez and her son were standing by a mailbox when they were struck by a 1998 Chevrolet Silverado truck driven by Reyes.

Reyes reportedly first collided with a 2005 Volkswagen Jetta and then hit the mother and child. Gomez was pronounced dead at the scene.

Although Reyes fled the scene of the accident, authorities were able to track him down, police reported.

Reyes was “said to have been drunk at the time of the accident,” police reported. Speed is also believed to have played a factor.

Elizondo was arraigned on two counts of official oppression and two counts of prostitution by Judge Placido Rodriguez. Though the charging documents allege Elizondo solicited a prostitute, the official charge is prostitution.

In a criminal complaint, a woman said Elizondo had supplied her with $10 worth of crack cocaine in exchange for sexual favors. Another said he paid her $30 dollars for oral sex several times over the past year, according to the complaint. The woman also said Elizondo would threaten to have her arrested if she didn’t do what he asked of her.

Eloy Cardenas, police chief in both La Villa and Edcouch, said Elizondo’s arrest was connected to a separate arrest made Monday morning. The other person’s arrest stems from a case involving narcotics and stolen property, Cardenas said.

More charges could be brought against Elizondo as the investigation continues, Cardenas said.

“As chief of police, this is hard,” Cardenas said of arresting a city official. “But it was the victims who came to our department, our office to ask for help.”

In the Elizondo case, one of the women who filed the criminal complaint said she had tried filing police reports in La Villa before, but nothing was done.

“This entire situation all started before I was chief in La Villa,” Cardenas said. “I’ve been working with my staff to investigate this matter since I started in La Villa eight months ago.”

The mayor’s arrest Monday came the same day that Cardenas was due in court for jury selection in his own trial on evidence tampering charges.

Hidalgo County sheriff’s deputies arrested the police chief in 2008, alleging he shot at his wife’s ex-husband as the man drove past his house and then buried casings from the incident in his yard. His trial is set to begin this afternoon.

Even though he remains under indictment for a felony crime city leaders in Edcouch have allowed him to continue in his post. Those in La Villa contracted with him to take over the department.

La Villa residents re-elected Elizondo to a second term in May. Many were upset at the allegations being made against the city leader.

Gloria Marmolejo said she was shocked when she heard that the mayor had been arrested.

Marmolejo, 41, of Edcouch, had Elizondo as a teacher when she was in elementary school. She said he was her favorite teacher and she cannot believe the allegations that have been brought against him.

“He is a good person,” Marmolejo said. “I never would ever believe that he would be involved in something with prostitution.”

Elizondo’s attorney, Robert J. Salinas, was also shocked Monday. Salinas serves as the La Villa city attorney, but was clear to say he was not representing Elizondo as a city official.

“I’m doing this as his personal attorney,” he said.

During the arraignment Monday, Rodriguez allowed a personal recognizance bond for Elizondo. Rodriguez said he trusts that the mayor will not skip any court proceedings.

“I know him very well,” Rodriguez said. “I don’t like what he did, but I know he won’t try to leave the city.”

Sheriff’s deputies are looking for an illegal immigrant in connection with an aggravated robbery at a convenience store Sunday night.

Hidalgo County sheriff’s deputies responded an alarm to the Kwik-E Mart south of Mile 12 North along Farm-to-Market Road 1015 at about 10:30 p.m. Sunday, according to a department statement.

Upon arrival, the store’s clerk told deputies she had been held at gunpoint by a Hispanic man who fled south in a blue Chevrolet Trailblazer. The man took an undisclosed amount of cash, deputies said.

Deputies checked the SUV’s license plates, which led to a house at 3002 Clifford St., near the intersection of Mile 9 1/2 North and Mile 6 1/2 West.

Patrol and linebacker deputies caught up to the Trailblazer as it approached the house. A woman inside the SUV was detained, but the driver, a man, escaped.

The woman identified the driver as Leonardo Geronimo Zaleta, 28, who was deported in 2007 and 2008 after separate burglary arrests.

A tracking dog was unable to find Zaleta.

An arrest warrant for aggravated robbery has been issued for Zaleta. If arrested and convicted of aggravated robbery, Zaleta could spend up to life in prison and face up to a $10,000 fine.

Anyone who has seen Zaleta is urged to call Hidalgo County Crime Stoppers at (956) 668-8477.

EDINBURG | DRUG BUST

Hidalgo County sheriff’s deputies arrested two men allegedly found with cocaine on Sunday.

Investigators received a tip that a black Chevrolet Tahoe would be transporting the drugs Sunday afternoon in Edinburg, deputies said in a statement

A canine deputy unit pulled over a black Tahoe on traffic violations about 5 p.m. Sunday near Farm-to-Market Roads 1925 and 493.

Deputies attempted to arrest Juan Manuel Morales, who was driving the Tahoe, on undisclosed traffic violations. Gabriel Cedillo was a passenger in the vehicle.

The drug dog sniffed the SUV and 42 pounds of cocaine were found inside.

Both men were formally charged with possession of a controlled substance at an arraignment hearing Monday afternoon at the Hidalgo County Jail. Bond for Morales was set at $30,000. Cedillo received a $25,000 bond.

Because of the weight of the drugs, each man could spend up to life in prison and face up to a $100,000 fine upon conviction.

HIDALGO | FUGITIVES ARRESTED

Customs officers in Hidalgo arrested two fugitives last week who were wanted for allegedly committing an armed robbery.

Officers patrolling the Hidalgo International Bridge Saturday identified a Houston couple traveling into the United States as Luis Cruz, 27, and Crystal Salazar, 23 — two fugitives wanted by the Harris County Sheriff’s Office for charges stemming from an armed robbery.

Cruz and Salazar — both U.S. citizens— were transferred to the Hidalgo Police Department. Both are pending extradition proceedings to Harris County.

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Monitor staff writers Jared Taylor and Ana Ley compiled this report.

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