Former Starr County Attorney Victor Canales Jr. was sentenced to three years and one month in federal prison for extortion under color of law, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Texas Alamdar S. Hamdani announced.
Chief U.S. District Judge Randy Crane also ordered Canales, 51, to three years of supervised release. Canales pleaded guilty Sept. 5, 2023, a news release said.
Canales was Starr County attorney from 2005 to 2022 and was responsible for prosecuting misdemeanor crimes.
In September 2021, the news release said, a woman contacted Canales for help after her son was charged with three misdemeanor offenses in Starr County.
Canales told her he could help and that for $1,500, he could take care of the Starr County tickets.
She gave him three money orders totaling $1,500. Instead of depositing the money into the Starr County account, he deposited it into his own checking account and used it for his own personal needs, officials said.
He then sent a series of letters to officials saying the three charges against the woman’s son would be dropped.
During the sentencing hearing, the court heard testimony from an auditor in the Texas Attorney General’s Office about the cash deposits made into Canales’ personal account and his use of funds from the Starr County attorney’s account.
The judge determined the total amount of bribes Canales had received was $44,000. The court also noted the culture of corruption in Starr County and said the sentence would act as a deterrent to corruption.
“Prosecutors of all stripes, whether at the federal, state or city level, are defined by an oath, one to serve and protect their communities. It’s an oath that seeks only one thing — justice,” Hamdani said. “Victor Canales Jr. violated that oath and the trust of Starr County’s residents in exchange for tens of thousands of dollars in bribes. As an office of dedicated public servants, including 200 prosecutors, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District has little patience for corrupt officials, especially when a prosecutor trades his authority, his oath, for personal gain.”
Canales was allowed to remain on bond and voluntarily surrender at a future date to a U.S. Bureau of Prisons facility.
The FBI and the Texas Attorney General’s Office worked in partnership to conduct the Border Corruption Task Force investigation with help from the task force’s agencies, including the Drug Enforcement Administration, Homeland Security Investigations, the Texas Department of Public Safety – Criminal Investigations, and the Texas Rangers.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Patricia Cook Profit prosecuted the case.
“Today’s sentencing highlights the FBI’s commitment to combat public corruption at every level. Citizens in the Rio Grande Valley deserve local government officials who can be trusted,” said Special Agent in Charge Aaron Tapp of the FBI’s San Antonio Field Office.
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