The fraud trial of prominent long time State Senator Carlos Uresti has proven to even more than the fascinating case it promised to be, News Radio 1200 WOAI reports.
Here's a look at the first week of the trial.
Uresti is facing a total of eleven counts, including wire fraud for allegedly defrauding investors whom he lured into a fracking sand company called Fourwinds Logistics, which went bankrupt in 2015. Uresti claims he was simply a 'rain maker,' brought in to use his significant clout to attract investments, and was not privy to the internal workings of the company.
Prosecutors in week one have called several witnesses who were close to Fourwinds to discuss the unorthodox operations of the firm. Witnesses told of managers being drunk at 10AM, and of 'surgically enhanced women' with no discernable duties being hired by the firm.
One lawyer who Uresti asked to help him attract investors from Mexico to put their money into Fourwids told of being met by 'several provocatively dressed women' when he and a Mexican millionaire arrived for a meeting at Fourwinds' corporate office at Loop 1604 and US 281. The lawyer said he has done a lot of business in the oil and gas industry, and he is far more used to being met by 'men with muddy boots' when he has attended meetings with oil companies.
One woman, a bookkeeper at the firm, testified that she told company officials that the company's books were lies, and she even said she 'contemplated suicide' because Fourwinds was such a mess.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Joseph Blackwell's strategy is to convince the jury that it should have been obvious to anybody, let alone to a lawyer and State Senator like Uresti, that Fourwinds was a fraudulent company.
Key testimony is expected to involve Denise Cantu. The Rio Grande Valley woman was a law client of Uresti, who won her a sizable settlement with two of her children died in a car wreck. Uresti convinced Cantu to invest that settlement in Fourwinds Logistics, and she eventually lost it. Canti is believed to be the whistleblower in the case, and will be a key witness against Uresti.
A McAllen financial planner testified that she warned Cantu not to go near Fourwinds, indicating that if a financial planner in the Rio Grande Valley was wary of Fourwinds, a San Antonio lawyer who actually worked for the company would have have been wary too.
The lawyer who brought in the Mexican investor said Uresti told him that he made $1.4 million dollars from his relationship with Fourwinds, at a time when investors like Cantu were losing everything. He also said he 'didn't remember' Uresti telling the Mexican investor that he was awarded a commission on all investments he attracted, which is required under federal securities laws.
Prosecution testimony is expected to continue Monday afternoon and continue for much of the week. Then, defense attorney Michael McCrum will have his turn.
There has been talk of top state officials, even including Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick possibly taking the stand in this case.