Rio Grande Herald (Rio Grande City, Tex.), Vol. 21, No. 20, Ed. 1 Thursday, May 18, 1972 Page: 1 of 16
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T
SERVING STARR COUNTY FOR SO YEARS
TPA AWARD WINNING NEWSPAPER
TEN CENTS
VoJ. XXI No. 20 Thursday
May 18, 1*>72
It io (irande City, Texas
'Solis out of run-off, out of office '
County Sheriff Convicted
U.S. Supreme Court
rejects appeals....
CONVICTED SHERIFF RENE A SOLIS
tell it
like it
I & • • •
\
k
s/o
RAUL TREJO
HERALD MANAGING
EDITOR
It is time to write, . . .
Now that the storm has blown in and the convic-
tions have become final, the Herald would like to ex-
press a few thoughts, release a few views, and let out
a few long suppressed feelings.
First for Judge Reynaldo Garza, U.S. District
Judge. . . I am sure that Judge Garza learned a les-
son in law and order when the U.S. Supreme Court
ordered the conviction upheld. When the defendants
were being investigated, Judge Garza stated that the
U.S. Attorney's office was on a 'Witch-IIunt', that
they were wasting their time and that "this sort of
thing has been going on for many, many years". Judge
Garza also expressed deep concern that the justice
department had not proved their case right before
the jury retired to decide on a verdict. The verdict,
despite Judge Garza's prejudice and ignorant state-
ment was GUILTY as charged.
The so-called 'Witch-hunt' had begun. . . and it is
long from being over.
Our desire to express our deep and sincere dis-
satisfaction with Judge Reynaldo Garza has been sup-
pressed inside this editor for many months.
The ignorance that Judge Garza displayed during
the trial surprised many people. A man of his educa-
tion, of his capabilities appeared to be siding with
what was obviously a corrupt form of government. . .
this ignorance was obvious in his remarks. . . "this
sort of thing has been going on for years". . . Well,
Judge Garza, despite your prejudiced remarks the
U.S. Supreme Court has made vou look like an . . .
See TELL, PAGE 3
by RAUL TREJO
Herald Managing Editor
Long-time Starr County
Sheriff Rene A. Solis and seven
other Starr County residents
have been declared convicted-
felons by the highest court in
the land. . . the announcement
was made Monday morning at
10 a.m. by the U. S. Justice
Department in a joint state
■with the spokesman for the U,
S. Supreme Court.
Those convicted after the
Supreme Court rejected their
appeal motion were Dr. Rene
A. Solis, also Starr County
Sheriff, Special Investigator for
the District Attorney's office
Jimmy Clarke, Max Gaytan,
Concepcion Alaniz, Raul Vil-
larreal, Heberto Barrera,
Guadalupe Morado, and Feder-
ico Pilon.
Chief U.S. Attorney Anthony
J. P. Farris along with chief
prosecutors Raul Gonzalez and
Jack Sheppard stated that they
were 'elated' by the high court
decision to uphold the convic-
tions.
A federal court jury found
Starr County Sheriff Rene A.
Solis and seven other county
residents guilty of vote fraud
in connection with absentee
balloting in Starr County. The
verdict was delivered in De-
cember 1970.
U.S. District Judge Reynaldo
Garza assessed all eight prison
terms, but in five cases the
terms were suspended for pro-
bation. The other three, those
of Solis, Gaytan, and Clarke
were assessed 30 days to serve
in jail.
Farris^ speaking from his
Houston office, said that the
decision to uphold the convic-
tion was a "victory for the
people of Starr County as well
as for the state of Texas."
"The day when courthouse
gangs take over every office of
that county and abuse the voting
privileges of the people of that
county or political entity is
coming to a close and these
convictions are only a starting
chapter in what is to come,''he
concluded.
"This investigation was
opened when and only when the
local available officers failed
to take local action. We are
happy that the people and the
local newspaper were able to
come to us for help and we were
happy to do so. I congratulate
the local news media for keep-
ing this whole thing in the public
eye and the local private citi-
zens that brought this thing to
light," Sheppard said.
' 'I want to assure the people
of this area that the U.S. Jus-
tice Department has proven its
ability and capability to move
in when local officials fail to
do so," Farris said.
U.S. Attorney Raul Gonzalez
said Monday after that the re-
fusal of the Supreme Court to
act on the motion means that
Soils and the others are con-
victed felons, and this means
that Solis, a medical doctor at
Rio Grande City and Starr
County cannot hold public office
or vote. He also said that any-
one of the convicted felons will
lose their right to vote and hold
or work for public office effec-
tive immediately.
"I wish to state that the local
officials will again be given
ample time to remove Dr.Solis
from the run-off ballot, but if
they fail to do so the U.S. Jus-
tice Department will move in
and do so before the run-off
election," Sheppard said.
Solis, who took office as
sheriff for the county since just
after World War II, is in a June
3 runoff with J.M. Chema Al-
varez for the office of sheriff.
Asked about the medical li-
cense, U.S. Attorney Raul Gon-
zalez said that the U.S. Justice
Department would also allow
the state (district attorney)
ample time to file for its re-
moval but that i f the state
failed to do so, soon the U. S.
Justice Department would a-
gain move in to do so.
According to Gonzalez, a con-
victed felon cannot hold public
office, work for a position of
public trust, be on the board of
directors of any political en-
tity, such as banks, school
boards, etc. . .
Garza sentenced Solis Feb.
See CONVICTION, Page 3
BRISCOE IN RGC—Even Ben Barnes supporters showed up to greet Dolph Briscoe and
his wife Janie as they made a helicopter stop in Rio Grande City early Wednesday morn-
ing. Briscoe is in the Valley this week as he heads for a runoff election June 3 with a Cor-
pus Christ! woman. Briscoe is shown here with Starr County Commissioner E.A. Duran.
right and Homero Gutierrez in the background. The coffee-donut affair was hosted by
many of Rio Grande City's leading merchants, business and agriculture interests. (Herald
photo)
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Trejo, Raul. Rio Grande Herald (Rio Grande City, Tex.), Vol. 21, No. 20, Ed. 1 Thursday, May 18, 1972, newspaper, May 18, 1972; (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth194356/m1/1/: accessed April 24, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Rio Grande City Public Library.