HIDALGO COUNTY, Texas (ValleyCentral) — A former La Joya Independent School District (ISD) assistant superintendent pleaded guilty to accepting bribes in 2019.
On Monday, Jose Luis Morin, 41, admitted in federal court that he accepted $28 thousand in bribes in exchange for favorable recommendations of an energy savings contract for the district.
Morin is the second La Joya ISD official convicted of accepting bribes in relation to Performance Services Inc. (PSI), an energy savings company that secured a contract with the district. The first convicted official was Armin Garza, who pleaded guilty to accepting hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes from various companies.
Similarly, Alejandro Guajardo, a Peñitas city council member, pleaded guilty to accepting bribes from PSI and distributing checks from the company to La Joya ISD board members.
PSI is also at the center of a lawsuit between former Mission Mayor Norberto Salinas and the city of Mission. According to the lawsuit, city officials did not follow proper protocol when offering a multi-million dollar contract to PSI in 2020.
The contract between Mission and PSI is for a project replacing water meters and installing lighting across the city, according to city meeting minutes. However, in January city council members voted to bring in outside sources to determine if they should terminate the contract with PSI.
