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Posted: 5:13 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 8, 2013
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By Veronica Macias
Jesus Gandara, the uncle of former El Paso County Commissioner Willie Gandara, Jr., faces multiple felony charges in San Diego, where he served as former superintendent of the Sweetwater Independent School District.
Willie Gandara, Jr. is currently serving time for drug trafficking.
A street sign in the city of Socorro with his name on it was recently put up and then taken down after the indictment.
The city's public information officer, David Garcia, said that the street was meant to honor his son, Jesus Gandara, Jr.However, Jr. was accidentally left out, and the city is working to replace the street sign.
The subdivision of Las Margaritas, where the Jesus Gandara street sign was located, is under construction and construction workers do not know when it was taken down.
Yesterday, a San Diego grand jury handed down the indictments, which consist of 232 charges and 15 people.
Gandara was among the first to be accused of a "pay for play" scheme, where he and others reportedly accepted expense dinners and outings in exchange for votes on multi-million dollar construction projects.
Residents in Socorro said they had already wanted the street sign to be taken down because they were expecting to see the names of veterans in the subdivision of Las Margaritas.
They also expressed disappointment with the leadership that has emerged from the city of Socorro.
"It's not good for the public to see the name of some who has been charged and accused of those types of things," said Joe Gonzalez, who lives in Socorro. "It's not good for the city, in my opinion."
Gonzalez also believes there was no mistake in the street sign not having Jr. printed on it.
"They all work together as a team and they're going to find ways of changing and twisting the story around," said Gonzalez.
Jesus Gandara has not made a plea and his arraignment has been set for Jan.30.
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