The Files

Documented Cases

Every case below is sourced. Cases derived from submitted testimony are clearly attributed to the witnesses, families, or attorneys who reported them. Charges, indictments, and rulings cite public court records.

Nothing on this page is an adjudicated finding of guilt against any individual unless explicitly noted as such.

Police Leadership Misconduct

Edinburg, TX — Edinburg Police Department

Internal Affairs Investigation — Allegations Unproven

Edinburg Police Chief Ayala under internal affairs investigation

Group photograph at a MADD Texas 'Impaired Driving Ends Here' event in the Rio Grande Valley, including a uniformed Edinburg police official. — Public-event photograph (MADD Texas community event). Included for context regarding the Chief's public appearances; not offered as evidence of any allegation.

Mr. Ayala, the newly appointed Chief of Police for the City of Edinburg, is the subject of an internal affairs review following the emergence of a series of photographs involving female subordinates. According to sources familiar with the matter, the images depict inappropriate physical contact within a professional setting. The inquiry is reported to center on two concerns. First, violations of professional boundaries — conduct that would contradict the department's Code of Conduct governing workplace interactions and the treatment of staff. Second, ethical breaches — including allegations of unsolicited advances and an undisclosed internal relationship, both of which raise questions about the Chief's judgment as a high-ranking official. The department has not released a formal statement on the specifics of the evidence. A departmental spokesperson said, in general terms, that "the integrity of the department relies on leadership that maintains the highest moral and professional standards, and any behavior that undermines the command hierarchy or creates a conflict of interest will be addressed with the utmost seriousness." Mr. Ayala is married. As the internal affairs probe continues, city officials and residents await a determination on whether the conduct at issue constitutes a breach of contract, a violation of employment law, or grounds for removal. We are publishing this as a top case because the conduct of the chief law-enforcement officer of a Rio Grande Valley city is a matter of direct public interest. Mr. Ayala is presumed innocent unless and until proven otherwise. If you have documentation — photographs, complaints, HR filings, or firsthand accounts — submit it through the testimony page. It will be reviewed and, where verifiable, added to this entry with attribution.

Source: Based on reporting and photographic documentation reviewed by the project. Allegations are unproven; Mr. Ayala has not been charged with any crime. Sourcing and corroborating records are being compiled and will be added to this entry.

Judicial Misconduct

93rd District Court, Hidalgo County

Federal Indictment (Delgado)

Judge Fernando Mancias & the Delgado precedent

Portrait photograph of a judge in black judicial robes with a blue tie, gray hair and mustache. — Portrait photograph submitted to the project. Included for identification; not offered as evidence of any allegation.

Judge Rodolfo "Rudy" Delgado of the 93rd District Court was federally indicted on charges including bribery and obstruction of justice. He was taken into federal court and posted a $100,000 bond. The case raised broader questions about the 93rd District bench, including the conduct of Judge Fernando Mancias, who served alongside him. We are collecting documented complaints and rulings to forward to the Texas Commission on Judicial Conduct and federal authorities for review.

Source: Public record: U.S. v. Delgado, S.D. Tex.; press coverage 2018–2019.

Public Corruption

Edinburg, TX — U.S. District Court, Southern District of Texas

Sentenced — 13 months federal prison (Jan 13, 2026)

Miguel "Mike" Garza sentenced in Edinburg pay-to-play bribery scheme

A darkened city hall building at dusk with a Texas flag at half-staff — editorial illustration symbolizing municipal corruption. — Illustration. No public photograph of Mr. Garza is being reproduced here.

Miguel A. "Mike" Garza, 52, of Edinburg, was sentenced on January 13, 2026 to 13 months in federal prison for federal program bribery. According to the U.S. Attorney's Office, Southern District of Texas, Garza acted as a political consultant for two elected Edinburg officials between June 2019 and March 2020, and funneled $47,235 in bribe payments from a McAllen-area business owner to those officials in exchange for favorable votes on city contracts. He pleaded guilty in April 2023 before U.S. District Judge Ricardo H. Hinojosa. The same scheme produced a separate conviction of former Edinburg City Councilman Jorge "Coach" Salinas, who was sentenced to six months in federal prison for accepting the bribes. The case was investigated by the FBI and prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Robert L. Guerra Jr. and Arthur R. Jones. We document it here because it is exactly the kind of pay-to-play arrangement — small dollars, hidden votes, contracts steered to insiders — that residents of the Rio Grande Valley have warned about for years, and because the conviction is a matter of federal court record.

Source: Public record: U.S. Attorney's Office, S.D. Tex. press release (Apr 24, 2023); KRGV-TV reporting by Jose De Leon III (Jan 13, 2026).

Public Funds Mismanagement

Weslaco, TX — Weslaco Independent School District

Forensic audit approved (Jan 26, 2026)

Weslaco ISD: $14 million overspent, forensic audit ordered

An empty elementary school classroom at dusk with chairs stacked on desks — editorial illustration of school district budget cuts. — Illustration. Not a photograph of any Weslaco ISD facility or official.

On January 20, 2026, the Weslaco Independent School District board was presented with an external audit showing the district's general fund balance for 2024–2025 was $71 million — not the $85 million previously reported by then-Chief Financial Officer David Robledo in June 2025. The $14 million gap matches roughly the amount the district had already distributed in staff stipends and salary increases that were never included in the original budget. Trustee Marcos De Los Santos warned publicly that a recurring, unbudgeted multi-million-dollar shortfall puts Weslaco ISD on a path toward state intervention if not corrected. Superintendent Dr. Richard Rivera told the board, "The previous CFO was not upfront and he's no longer here"; Robledo resigned in December 2025, with the resignation approved by the board on December 15. On January 26, 2026, the board approved a financial forensic audit specifically to look for fraud. The district says no fraud has yet been identified and that its reserve remains intact, while it pursues cost-saving measures including selling unused properties and re-zoning three elementary schools. This case is included as documented mismanagement of public education funds in the Rio Grande Valley. The forensic audit is the appropriate next step; the project will track its findings.

Source: Public record: Weslaco ISD board meeting Jan 20, 2026 & special meeting Jan 26, 2026; reporting by KRGV-TV (Karen Lucero) and ValleyCentral/KVEO (Jesse Mendez).

In Defense Of

Rio Grande Valley, TX

On the record

In defense of Eder Hernandez, PA — pillar of the RGV medical community

Eder Hernandez, PA — Physician Associate — is a Rio Grande Valley medical provider who, during the COVID-19 pandemic, took on the work of organizing immunization and helping deliver the COVID-19 vaccine to RGV residents — work that, by every credible public-health estimate, saved lives at scale. He is, by the standard the rest of this site uses for other community figures, a pillar of the local medical community: a working Physician Associate, a vaccinator during a mass-casualty public-health emergency, and a husband and father with a longstanding professional reputation. We are publishing this entry because El Rrun Rrun, a Brownsville-area blog operated by Juan Montoya, published a post titled "YOU WON'T HAVE EDER TO KICK AROUND ANY MORE" that targets Mr. Hernandez personally. We are not republishing the contents of that post here. We are stating, plainly, that the post is a personal attack on a Physician Associate whose documented contribution to the Valley during COVID-19 is exactly the kind of service this project exists to defend. If you are a resident of the RGV who was vaccinated, treated, or cared for by PA Hernandez, or who has documentation of his role in the vaccination effort (county health releases, news coverage, employer statements), we want it — submit it through the testimony page and we will add it to this entry with attribution. A reputation built over years of patient care does not get erased by a blog post. We are putting his record on the record.

Source: Based on the public-health record of COVID-19 vaccination efforts in the Rio Grande Valley and on a publicly published blog post by El Rrun Rrun (Juan Montoya) titled "YOU WON'T HAVE EDER TO KICK AROUND ANY MORE." The URL of that post will be added here when provided so readers can review it directly.

Regulatory Overreach

Texas — Texas Medical Board

License Revoked — Calls for Re-examination

Revocation of Javier Suarez Jaramillo, PA — disproportionate outcome after 4+ years of clean testing

Excerpt of Paragraph 7 from a Texas Medical Board order regarding Respondent Javier Suarez Jaramillo, noting he has not tested positive for any prohibited substances but listing missed check-ins and tests. — Excerpt — Paragraph 7 of the Texas Medical Board order. The Board itself acknowledges Mr. Suarez "has not tested positive for any prohibited substances" while citing missed check-ins and tests as the basis for non-compliance.

The recently documented case involving the revocation of Javier Suarez Jaramillo, Physician Associate, raises significant concerns about fairness, proportionality, and due process within the regulatory system. The Texas Medical Board carries an undeniably difficult and high-stakes responsibility — protecting the public, upholding professional standards, and making complex decisions under intense scrutiny — but this case illustrates how even well-intentioned oversight can result in outcomes that appear unjust. Mr. Suarez did not once test positive for any illegal substance or alcohol across four years of saliva, blood, and hair samples — thousands of tests, all paid for at his own expense. The Board oversees health care professionals across Texas, but oversight must not become overzealous value judgment. His case was over alcohol dependency, yet after years of meticulous testing that found no alcohol, the Board still revoked his license. There is more to this story; this is a starting point. Mr. Suarez complied with 4 years and 8 months of rigorous drug-testing protocols, including saliva, hair-follicle, and urine testing — all at his own expense. Despite the Board's extensive monitoring, not a single test ever detected the presence of drugs, even after two DWI charges that were later dismissed. Throughout this period he remained largely compliant: he attended therapy as required, paid for every mandated evaluation — many of them excessively costly — and at times left his clinical duties to meet the Board's demands. Yet despite this long record of negative tests and cooperation, the Board ultimately abandoned him just three months before he would have cleared his record. After years of financial, emotional, and professional strain, the decision to revoke his license appears disproportionate to the evidence and the progress he had made. The case further alleges that Mr. Suarez practiced outside his scope. That claim does not align with his professional background. Mr. Suarez practiced psychiatry for over a decade, trained directly by psychiatrists, and operated within the established PA model — a model intentionally designed as a condensed, medically rigorous training pathway aligned with physician-supervised practice. His work in psychiatry does not place him outside his scope; it reflects the very structure and purpose of the PA profession. The Board's role is challenging, but the responsibility to protect the public must be balanced with fairness, evidence-based decision-making, and proportional consequences. In this case the outcome does not reflect the years of compliance, the absence of any positive findings, or the reality of Mr. Suarez's training and clinical experience. Justice demands that this case be re-examined. A man who dedicated his career to patient care, complied with every requirement, and stood only months away from clearing his record deserves a fair and transparent review — not abandonment after years of demonstrated effort.

Source: Based on a written account submitted to the project and on the underlying Texas Medical Board order referenced therein. The Board's findings are a matter of public record; the framing and conclusions below reflect the position of the project and Mr. Suarez's supporters. Sourcing to the specific TMB order and any related filings will be added to this entry as it is compiled.

More cases incoming

We are actively compiling additional cases involving the Edinburg PD, the Hidalgo County DA's office, and judicial conduct across the 93rd, 139th, 92nd, and 332nd District Courts.

Each case will be added with attribution to court filings, named witnesses, or news coverage. If you have a case to add — with documentation — submit a testimony.