April 25, 2019 500 AM
Nieto has started his sentence in prison, while Lorenzo Hernandez had yet to turn himself in for public corruption crimes, according to federal Bureau of Prisons information.
The two former Presidio public officials pleaded guilty to federal public corruption charges that included wire fraud, mail fraud and deprivation of honest services. Through an FBI sting operation, Hernandez, who was then a Presidio County commissioner, and Nieto, who was then the former Special Projects Coordinator for the City of Presidio and Presidio ISD board president, accepted bribes of $19,800 and $8,300 respectively, in exchange for influencing the county to award a contract to a document management system company. The company was a front.
Using his position, Hernandez voted to award the sting company a contract after receiving the bribe.
Nieto first had the vote postponed when Hernandez and current County Commissioner Eloy Aranda were not at an April 25, 2017 county meeting in Presidio where the contract was to be awarded.
The contract was approved in a 4-1 vote during a subsequent county meeting on May 9, 2017 in Marfa.
According to the Federal Bureau of Prisons, Hernandez is currently not in custody, but Nieto is serving his sentence at La Tuna Federal Correctional Institution in Anthony, near El Paso, as he requested.
He lived in El Paso after he was denied a request to return to Presidio full-time after he was free on bond in 2017.
In February, Nieto was sentenced to two years and five months in prison, a fine of $10,000 and three years of probation after his release.
Hernandez was sentenced to 24 months in prison, a $10,000 fine and three years’ probation. They both had to pay the amount they accepted in bribes, and surrender themselves to the court within 60 dates from the sentencings.
