South Texas Ex-Mayor Gets 8 Years Plus a Month in Prison

DEL RIO, Texas (AP) — The former mayor of the South Texas town of Crystal City has been sentenced to eight years and a month in federal prison for corruption.

Besides the 97-month prison term, Ricardo Lopez was sentenced in Del Rio on Monday to pay $24,000 in restitution and spend three years under federal supervision upon release.

In June 2017, a federal jury in Del Rio found Lopez and William James Jonas III, Crystal City's former city manager and city attorney, guilty of bribery, wire fraud and theft counts from a corruption probe.

Trial testimony revealed that Jonas, Lopez and other city officials used their official positions to enrich themselves by seeking and taking bribes from persons doing business in Crystal City.

Jonas was sentenced on May 16 to 35 years in prison.