BROWNSVILLE, TX—Jose Manuel “Meme” Longoria, 52, has been sentenced for his role in the FBI’s public corruption investigation of former 404th District Court Judge Abel Corral Limas, United States Attorney Kenneth Magidson announced today. Longoria, a resident alien from Mexico residing in San Benito, Texas, previously pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to interfere with commerce under color of official right (extortion), two counts of aiding and abetting extortion, and one count of aiding and abetting honest services wire fraud by former state Judge Abel Corral Limas.

Today, U.S. District Judge Andrew S. Hanen handed Longoria a 120-month sentence, which will be followed by a three-year term of supervised release. Longoria will remain in federal custody pending transfer to a U.S. Bureau of Prisons facility to be determined in the near future.

At the time of his plea November 21, 2011, Longoria admitted to his role in a conspiracy involving the creation of a fraudulent drug money seizure document prepared by former Cameron County District Attorney investigator Jaime Munivez in November 2007; providing information on a pending murder case in return for providing a bicycle to Munivez; and the attempted recovery of drug proceeds from a truck near Rosenberg, Texas, both in early 2008. The recitation of evidence to the court indicated that as part of the public corruption investigation on Judge Limas, agents learned Longoria was involved in other criminal activity including the creation of fraudulent documents.

In the first drug-related incident which was charged as part of the conspiracy by Longoria, agents conducted an undercover operation where ultimately Munivez met with Longoria and provided a document, titled, “Article 59.03 Statement of Seized Property,” indicating $200,000 was seized on “11/20/07” by an investigator with the District Attorney’s Office. The document was provided in return for payment ...