Two key players in a county corruption scheme learned just how long they'll spend in prison for defrauding the county of more than half a million dollars.

Friday, a federal judge sentenced former County Judge Dolores Briones and Sunny Garcia to prison time after the pair pleaded guilty to embezzling funds from a program meant to help mentally ill children.

Judge Frank Montalvo sentenced Briones to two and a half years in prison and ordered her to $36,000 in restitution after she admitted accepting $24,000 from Garcia and co-conspirator Chilo Madrid.

Briones accepted the bribes and in exchange used her position to award a contract to Garcia and Madrid's company, LKG.

Garcia received four years in prison and will pay $1.1 million for stealing $550,000 from the county meant to go to a federally funded program to help mentally ill children.

The county had received a $9 million grant from the federal government to fund a program called the Border Children's Mental Health Collaborative.

County Judge Veronica Escobar gave a victim impact statement on behalf of the county.

"The county really needed to address the wrongs that were committed to all the county public servants, but most especially the families that the county was committed to serving," said Escobar.

"This whole process has been incredibly educational," said County Commissioner Dan Haggerty. Haggerty is the only current commissioner who was also on the court when Briones was the judge.

Haggerty had raised red flags over the Border Children's Mental Health Collaborative from the start.
"I had a hard time with it all along," said Haggerty.

In video from past meetings, it was evident Haggerty was skeptical of how the program and the contract with LKG was working.

"(Briones) had a big part in getting it for us and insisted it was her grant and she was doing the right thing," said Haggerty. "If I had suspected real corruption or somebody taking anything, I would have blown the whistle," he added.

In fact, Haggerty was initially implicated when the investigation first began because he was a county commissioner. He was later cleared.

"I was called and they said we want to talk to you, and I've got to tell you that's a real sphincter snapper. It is scary," said Haggerty.

Haggerty said the county is still making changes in the wake of widespread public corruption. He credits Escobar for some of the systems she's put in place.

"Its not as lax as when I got there. Which was, if you've got three votes, you can do anything you want," said Haggerty.

Now he said, the county will do everything it can to recover the stolen money.

"We need to protect the citizens to this county. If you rip us off, we were going to go after you," said Haggerty.

The county likely won't see any of the $36,000 Briones has to pay in restitution. However, half of Garcia's $1.1 million goes to the county.

Still, it's a position Haggerty can't believe they're in.

"I can't image taking something that doesn't belong to you," said Haggerty.