Ex-Texas judge's associate charged with wire fraud

BROWSNVILLE, TX The FBI says 52-year-old Jose Manuel Longoria, who's from Mexico but legally lives in San Benito, faced a detention hearing Tuesday in Brownsville.

Longoria was arrested last Thursday in the investigation of ex-State District Judge Abel C. Limas, who served from 2001 through 2008. Limas on Thursday pleaded guilty to racketeering and faces sentencing in July.

A criminal complaint says Longoria was part of a 2008 scheme to allow someone on probation in Texas for aggravated assault to report by mail, rather than in person. Longoria allegedly was wired $1,800 from Arkansas as payoff.

The U.S. attorney's office did not immediately return messages Tuesday on whether Longoria has an attorney.

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