Breaking: The FBI has indicted Martin Cuellar, brother of Democratic U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar of Laredo, on federal embezzlement charges after a Houston raid.
— Bayliss Wagner (@baylisswagner) January 22, 2026
Martin is the Webb County sheriff. @JohnWFerguson has the story: https://t.co/oHcU80rY0O
Webb County Sheriff Martin Cuellar was arraigned on federal embezzlement charges in Houston on Thursday morning.
The South Texas sheriff, along with his former first deputy, Alex Gutierrez, is accused of theft or bribery related to the use of government-funded cleaning supplies, which were used for COVID-related disinfection work from 2020 to 2022.
Cuellar and Gutierrez are accused of using the sheriff office's staff and resources to run a for-profit business, Disinfect Pro Master, according to the Justice Department. The men, along with another former sheriff's office employee, Assistant Chief Ricardo “Rick” Rodriguez, opened a disinfecting business in April 2020 and entered into agreements with local businesses that lacked cleaning services and supplies, authorities said.Prosecutors allege sheriff's office employees handled the company's day-to-day to operations and conducted some of the disinfecting work on the clock.The company allegedly got a $500,000 contract to clean facilities at United Independent School District, a 40,000-student school district in Laredo. The cleaning was done "almost entirely" with county employees, according to prosecutors.
Cuellar and the other men received $175,000 for their part in the business, according to the indictment.more:
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