A federal judge has granted a $100,000 bond for the second suspect arrested in connection to a public corruption case involving former 404th State District Judge Abel Limas.
Jose Manuel Longoria appeared before U.S. Magistrate Judge Felix Recio for a court hearing on Tuesday afternoon.
The 52-year-old San Benito man is accused of being a middleman between Limas and others looking to exchange cash for political favors.
Limas has pleaded guilty in a federal racketeering case filed against him but court records show that the Longoria and Limas used Spanish words as a secret code language for bribes.
Longoria is a Mexican national but a legal resident of the United States.
Prosecutors argued in court on Tuesday that Longoria abuses illegal drugs and was in Matamoros last week . They said in they were afraid he was a flight risk.
But defense attorneys conviced Judge Recio to grant Longoria a $100,000 dollar bond.
Judge Recio granted the bond under several conditions. Among them are:
1) Post an additional immigration bond
2) Wear a GPS monitoring device
3) Submit to Drug Testing
Longoria currently works for San Benito attorney Oscar de la Fuente, who could not be reached for comments.
Defense attorneys argued that Longoria would continue working as a part-investigator for De la Fuente while out on bond.
A preliminary examination, where the court considers if there is enough evidence to charge Longoria in the case, has been postponed until April 12th.
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