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AUSTIN, Texas – U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar, D-Texas, won an 11e fired early Wednesday, despite facing a federal indictment over allegations that he took foreign bribes.
Cuellar, a 20-year congressional veteran considered one of the most conservative Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives, defeated Republican retired Navy officer Jay Furman in a district anchored by the South Texas border city of Laredo, The Associated Press predicted.
Cuellar, a proven vote-getter who was elected to the Texas House eight times before winning his first election to Congress in 2004, was made vulnerable after a federal indictment in May accused him and his wife of taking bribes and money laundering .
Prosecutors accused the Cuellars of stealing about $600,000 from a company linked to the Azerbaijani government and a bank headquartered in Mexico City. According to the indictment, the bribes were laundered through shell companies owned by Imelda Cuellar.
According to the indictment, the payments began at least in December 2014 and continued until at least November 2021. Cuellar previously served as co-chairman of the Congress Caucus in Azerbaijan.
The Cuellars have been hit with charges related to bribery, bank fraud, money laundering and acting as foreign agents. The charges together carry decades in prison if convicted.
The Cuellars have maintained they are innocent of the charges, but Furman had run ads in the late campaign accusing Cuellar of using his office “to enrich himself and empower cartels.”
Contributors: Bayliss Wagner and Marley Malenfant, Austin-American statesman; Ken Tran, USA TODAY