Pubdate: Mon, 10 Feb 2003
Source: San Antonio Express-News (TX)
Copyright: 2003 San Antonio Express-News
Contact:  http://www.mysanantonio.com/expressnews/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/384

KINGSVILLE ALLEGATIONS REQUIRE FEDERAL PROBE

Serious allegations have been raised about the confluence of drug 
trafficking and local politics in Kingsville.

These claims, detailed in recent Express-News reports, merit a full-scale 
investigation by the FBI.

The ongoing saga features an unusual lawsuit filed by now-suspended City 
Manager Hector Hinojosa. He charged that drug traffickers engineered a plot 
to seize control of the City Commission and remove Police Chief Sam Granato.

Hinojosa's federal lawsuit, filed Jan. 13 and dismissed a little more than 
two weeks later, also alleged that Kleberg County Sheriff Tony Gonzalez was 
close friends with local drug dealers and wanted Granato out. Gonalez 
denied the allegations.

The first step in the conspiracy, Hinojosa's suit alleged, was to suspend 
or fire him because he was the chief's supervisor. After that, Granato 
would be fired by a new city manager.

A transcript of a conversation between a drug dealer and an undercover 
agent in San Antonio, which was submitted to the court, supports this 
claim. It includes comments by the convicted dealer about taking over the 
City Commission to get rid of Granato, the Express-News reported.

When U.S. District Judge Hayden Head Jr. dismissed his order that blocked 
the commission from taking action against Hinojosa, the commission acted 
quickly. Hinojosa was suspended for 30 days as a first step toward termination.

Head's dismissal of the lawsuit does not mean the charges were baseless, 
but only that his court was not the place to ferret out the truth. A FBI 
probe is the proper venue for an examination of the facts in this case.

Granato has told the Express-News that the FBI has been reluctant to launch 
an investigation, but the charges are far too serious to be ignored.

The residents of Kleberg County deserve to know the truth, whatever it may be.
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