Campaign Manager Charged With Trading Cocaine For Votes
According to federal authorities, the indictment against Francisco "Frankie" Garcia was unsealed Friday and accused him of four crimes associated with four races for the school board in Donna, Texas: "conspiring to buy votes, paying for votes, and aiding and abetting others to buy votes."
In those races, the U.S. Justice Department said Garcia allegedly "bought votes and worked with other campaign workers to pay voters and to offer to pay voters in this election to vote for particular candidates. The indictment alleges that Garcia paid voters by giving the voters either cocaine or cash in exchange for their votes."
Three campaign workers have already pleaded guilty on vote-buying charges related to that 2012 election, authorities said.
Garcia could not be reached for comment on the accusations.