Former housing authority director sentenced over construction bid rigging

A Texas man has been sentenced to federal prison over a bid-rigging scheme he carried out as former director of the La Joya Housing Authority, the US Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Texas announced.

Juan Jose Garza was ordered by District Judge Ricardo Hinojosa to serve 37 months in prison after he pleaded guilty to wire fraud in May 2017. Garza carried out the scheme with Armando Jimenez, a Mexican national. Jimenez also pleaded guilty to wire fraud and received an 18-month prison term.

Garza served as executive director of the housing authority from 1999 through 2016. Between July 2013 and March 2013, Garza and Jimenez engaged in bid rigging for construction contracts with the Alamo and Donna Housing Authorities. The two men submitted false bids to guarantee Jimenez Construction would be the low bidder and then awarded construction projects. Jimenez then falsely submitted invoices for work he claimed his construction company did, but that had been completed by subcontractors working for Garza.

In addition to his prison term, Garza will also serve two years of supervised release. Not a US citizen, Jimenez is expected to face deportation proceedings following his sentence. The two men were permitted to remain on bond and voluntarily surrender to a Bureau of Prisons facility to be determined in the near future.