Court documents released reveal new information about San Elizario Mayor Isela Reyes who was arrested on Jan 10. and charged with insurance fraud of more than $2,500 and less than $30,000.
Reyes arrest stemmed from an investigation in which the El Paso County Sheriff’s Office received information that Reyes filed a false insurance claim.
The offense occurred in March before Reyes took her oath of office in May.
On March 6, Oscar Cantos, an ex-employee of Reyes, crashed into Reyes' vehicle that was parked outside her house in San Elizario, according to the criminal complaint.
Cantos told Reyes' husband Jason about the crash by sending him a text message and a photo at 10:23 a.m.
Cantos then met with Reyes and her husband and explained the crash.
Reyes told Campos not to worry about the crash as she would take care of it because "that is what insurance is for," the criminal complaint stated.
Reyes is accused of committing insurance fraud when she filed a claim about the accident with her insurance company on the same day.
Reyes told Farmers Insurance that she didn't know when the accident happened or who damaged her car.
On March 7, Reyes called the Town of San Elizario Marshal and "falsely reported the circumstances of the crash" by saying that the accident had been caused be a hit-and-run driver and that she had no information on the vehicle at fault.
On April 22, Reyes was paid out a total of $11,094. 40 and her insurance claim was closed out.
Another ex-employee of Reyes told investigators that she heard Reyes and Cantos talking about the crash and learned that Reyes "covered up for Cantos," the criminal complaint stated.
The same ex-employee also recorded a phone call Reyes had with a sheriff's office commander on Sept. 8 about social media posts made about the crash.
According to the court document, Reyes told the sheriff's office commander that she was frustrated with Cantos and believed that he was posting information about her online after "Reyes had reported an accident as a hit-and-run in order to cover up for Cantos in order to help him out."
The recordings were turned over to law enforecement.
A warrant for Reyes was issued on Sept. 19.
Months later she was booked in into the El Paso County Jail in lieu of a $25,000 bond.
She was released the same day and released the following statement on Jan. 12:
"Good evening. First of all, I want to thank my family, friends, and the community of San Elizario, who have sent messages of support. For now, I want to let you know that I am in good spirits and focused on continuing to work on improving and moving the City of San Elizario forward. Right now, I can't answer any questions per my attorney. Thank you all and God Bless."
The FBI West Texas Border Corruption Task Force was involved in the investigation because Reyes is a public official.
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