Cameron County District Attorney Luis Saenz tells The Brownsville Herald that Gilberto Escaramilla was fired in August and arrested after authorities obtained a search warrant and found packages of the Tex-Mex food in his refrigerator.
Investigators subsequently checked vendor invoices and determined he would intercept county-funded food deliveries and deliver them to his own customers.
The scheme imploded when he missed work one day in August for a medical appointment and a delivery driver showed up with 800 pounds of fajitas, but officials said the juvenile department didn't serve fajitas.
Escaramilla was arrested last week on the more serious felony theft charge.
Report a typo to the ABC13 staff