Nearly a year after FBI raid, Texas Sen. Carlos Uresti heads to trial to face 11 felony charges

[TexasTowelie]

by Emma Platoff, Texas Tribune


SAN ANTONIO — After hundreds of legal filings and three separate trial delays, Democratic state Sen. Carlos Uresti will finally get his day in court next week to face felony charges of fraud and money laundering.

Jury selection begins Thursday in the criminal case against Uresti, a two-decade veteran of the Texas Legislature charged with 11 felonies. The case is rooted in the San Antonio lawmaker’s ties to FourWinds Logistics, a now-bankrupt frac sand company alleged to have perpetrated a Ponzi scheme against its investors.

Uresti — a personal injury lawyer who took notes on a yellow legal pad alongside his three defense attorneys at a pretrial hearing Wednesday — performed legal services for FourWinds and was a 1-percent owner of the company. He also earned commission for attracting investors to the organization, according to court documents.

Questions about Uresti’s alleged misconduct at FourWinds were first raised publicly in August 2016 in a San Antonio Express-News investigation. Investors accused the company — which purported to sell sand to be used in the process of hydraulic fracking — of misrepresenting its financial health and misspending investor money on frivolous personal expenses.

Read more: https://www.texastribune.org/2018/01/18/state-sen-carlos-uresti-heads-criminal-fraud-trial-san-antonio/