Former Hidalgo County elections administrator pleads ‘not guilty'

EDINBURG - Hundreds of e-mails, instant message transcripts and receipts allegedly link former Hidalgo County elections administrator Teresa Navarro to a two-year-long theft scheme in her office, prosecutors said Thursday.

The documents outline at least $20,000 in personal purchases paid for with government money for items such as rental cars, hotel rooms, clothing and meals.

"(They) show an ongoing process among four individuals using county credit cards and hiding (their purchases) from auditors," Assistant District Attorney Murray Moore said. "All of these purchases were items paid for by the county."

Navarro, meanwhile, proclaimed her innocence on 12 counts connected to credit card abuse and car rentals for herself and her son. Prosecutors allege she and the three former employees altered receipts on the rentals to make it look as if they had been leased for legitimate county work.

Both Navarro and her attorney, Terry Palacios, declined to comment after Thursday's court hearing.

Moore briefly outlined the state's case against Navarro, 48, of Mission, and three other former Hidalgo County Elections Department employees during an arraignment hearing Thursday in state district court.

Rene Solis, 42, of Weslaco, pleaded not guilty Thursday to 12 individual counts of criminal wrongdoing. He once worked as the department's operations director and served as Navarro's right-hand man.

Former elections clerk Amado Cavazos Jr., 27, of Edinburg, and ex-bookkeeper Patricia Zapata, 35, of McAllen, entered not-guilty pleas to two and four criminal counts, respectively. The state did not outline any specific acts against them Thursday.

Navarro resigned her post as elections administrator June 17, three months after a county audit first raised questions into accounting practices within her department. Each of the other employees had left the department before their arrests earlier this month.

If convicted, each could face up to life in prison and thousands of dollars in fines.