Last-minute courtroom drama ended with the middleman in the Abel Limas cash for court favors scandal getting 10 years in federal prison.
Jose Manuel Longoria appeared for sentencing before U.S. District Court Judge Andrew Hanen in Brownsville on Tuesday morning.
During the two-hour hearing, Longoria asked Judge Hanen to let him out of a November 21st plea agrement.
Longoria did not change his guilty plea but wanted out of the plea agreement in order to fight an upward departure or higher sentence.
A sealed event happened in court but Judge Hanen ultimately overrode prosecutors objections and granted Longoria's motion.
Judge Hanen sentenced Longoria to 10 years in federal prison to be followed by three years probation.
Court records show that by keeping his guilty plea and being let out of the plea agreement, Longoria now has the right to appeal his sentence.
Judge Hanen ordered that Longoria be housed at a federal prison in or near South Texas and that Longoria enroll in a drug and alcohol abuse treatment program.
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