Former Willacy County district attorney Juan Angel Guerra filed a petition on Wednesday against current Cameron County District Attorney Armando Villalobos to remove him from office.
"I know by experience how hard it is to be indicted and try to do they job of a [district attorney]," Guerra said. “How can you stand before a jury or a grand jury and say we’re presenting evidence for you to indict this person when you yourself are under indictment.”
The five page petition cited Chapter 87 of the government code.
Guerra's client, Trinidad Salinas, accused Villalobos of racketeering.
Salinas said he owns 8-liners that Villalobos shut down but that he did not do the same for neighboring 8-liners.
According to the petition, Villalobos’ indictment on federal racketeering charges supports Salinas’ claim.
But attorney John Blaylock said the indictment is not sufficient.
"What Juan Guerra does just make reference to the federal indictment, which an indictment is not evidence," Blaylock explained. “It is not evidence of anything, it’s simply an allegation.”
Blaylock filed that same petition against Guerra back in 2007 when he was the district attorney for Willacy County.
"The district attorney [for Willacy County] called me this morning and told me that Guerra had been over there making copies of the removal petition on him, so it looks sort of familiar," he added.
Guerra filed the petition in the 444th District Court in Brownsville.
The next step in the process will be for the district judge to set up a hearing where Guerra can present evidence before allowing the petition to move forward.
Action 4 News attempted to contact Armando Villalobos for the past two days to get comments on the petition, but have not heard back yet.
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