Campaign Manager Arrested in Cocaine-for-Votes Scheme

This happened in Donna, TX, which is down in the Rio Grande Valley. Donna is in Hidalgo County, and Tatler readers are very familiar with that county.

The region is very heavily Democrat. So odds are, the unnamed candidates are Democrats.

Francisco “Frankie” Garcia, 47, of Donna, paid voters either a dime bag of cocaine or $10 per vote, authorities said.
“On or about November 6, 2012, Person B brought three voters to the polls to vote for candidates in the Donna School Board election,” the indictment reads. “Garcia paid the voters for voting by dropping $30 into the car in which they were seated, through an open car window, after they voted.”

Assistant U.S. Attorney James Leo, who is prosecuting the case, said Garcia worked for the same school board candidates as Veronica Saldivar and Belinda Solis — two Donna women arrested earlier this month on similar charges.

The story doesn’t say, but this episode screams of Mexican drug cartel influence. This happened in a school board election, which probably doesn’t seem like high stakes, but big lucrative contracts go through local school boards.