Former Texas sheriff pleads guilty in drug case

Accused of sharing names of informants with Mexican drug ring

Video: Crime & courts

Related stories

Drug kingpin pleads guilty to trafficking

updated 6:36 p.m. ET May 1, 2009

McALLEN, Texas - A former south Texas sheriff pleaded guilty Friday to a drug-trafficking charge for sharing law-enforcement information with a Mexican drug ring.

Reymundo Guerra entered the plea to conspiring to distribute narcotics while he was Starr County sheriff. As part of a plea deal that recommended dropping two other charges, prosecutors called him a "minor participant."

Still, Guerra could face a sentence from 10 years to life in prison when he's sentenced in July. His attorney, Philip Hilder, said he hopes the plea bargain will mean a lower sentence.

Story continues below ↓

advertisement | your ad here

"He realizes he has made serious mistakes in judgment and is accepting responsibility for those lapses in judgment," Hilder said. "He got too close to some of the defendants in this case and provided some information he should not have."

Federal prosecutors said Guerra helped the Mexican Gulf Cartel to operate in his county and endangered fellow law-enforcement agents by sharing names of confidential informants.

Guerra declined comment and remained free on bond until his sentencing. Outside the courtroom, Hilder said Guerra "feels like he let down his family, friends and constituents and he's deeply remorseful."

Click for related content

Drug smugglers move into N.M. town
Ex-sheriff accused in jail sex scandal dies

By sharing information, and in one instance giving false documents to one of his deputies to close a case related to the drug-trafficking operation, Guerra made it easier for the dangerous Mexican Gulf Cartel to move drugs through his county, prosecutors said.

FBI agents arrested Guerra at his office in October after a federal grand jury indicted him and more than a dozen others. The case grew to include 28 defendants.