HIDALGO COUNTY, Texas (VDN) — A former Hidalgo County Sheriff’s Office commander, previously convicted of accepting a bribe from a drug trafficker, has had multiple theft-related charges dismissed with prejudice, court records show.
65-year-old Jose Angel Padilla was arrested by the Pharr Police Department on August 28, 2019, and later indicted on several charges including theft of property, forgery, credit card abuse, and engaging in organized criminal activity.
However, on September 4, a judge dismissed all charges with prejudice, legally barring prosecutors from refiling them.
Padilla, who served under disgraced former Sheriff Guadalupe Treviño, had previously been sentenced to three years in federal prison for taking a bribe. His conviction was part of a broader corruption scandal that shook South Texas and led to multiple federal prosecutions, including those of a sheriff, judge, district attorney, and a state legislator.
Also implicated in the scandal was Jonathan Treviño, the sheriff’s son, who led the notorious Panama Unit. That rogue task force stole drugs from traffickers and redistributed them. Jonathan was sentenced to 17 years in prison and released in 2024.
In the 2019 theft case, Padilla was charged alongside Milagros Gomez, 42, and Kathy Judith Morales, 37, after a months-long investigation into a trucking company that reported unauthorized purchases totaling nearly $110,000.
Morales pleaded guilty to theft of property in November 2024 and was sentenced to five years’ probation and ordered to pay restitution.
Gomez took a plea deal in October 2021, admitting to theft and organized criminal activity, receiving 10 years’ probation and was ordered to pay $40,000 in restitution.
With his charges now dismissed, Padilla has filed a request for the return of property seized during his 2019 arrest, according to ongoing court records.
