Frio County’s District Attorney and Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s Election Fraud Unit added nine more indictments to an ongoing vote harvesting investigation, bringing the total number of suspects in the case to 15.
Vote harvesting involves knowingly providing or offering compensation for collecting ballots, except in specific cases like caregiving.
Each conviction for vote harvesting, classified as a third-degree felony under a 2021 law, carries a prison sentence of up to ten years and fines of up to $10,000.
Audrey Gossett Louis, the 81st Judicial District Attorney, confirmed the following indictments in connection with the investigation:
- Former Texas House candidate Cecilia Castellano (D-Somerset): two counts of vote harvesting.
- Former Bexar County Democratic Party Chair, current chief of staff to State Rep. Liz Campos (D–San Antonio), and former San Antonio mayoral candidate Juan Manuel Medina: two counts of vote harvesting.
- Former Pearsall Mayor Petra Davina Trevino: one count of vote harvesting.
- Former Dilley Mayor Mary Ann Obregon: two counts of vote harvesting.
- Former Dilley Council member Inelda Rodriguez: three counts of vote harvesting.
- Frio County Commissioner Precinct 3 Raul Carrizales III: one count of vote harvesting.
- Pearsall ISD Board Secretary Maricella Garcia Benavides: one count of vote harvesting.
- Rachel Leal: one count of vote harvesting.
- Susanna Flores Carrizales: one count of vote harvesting.
Seven suspects turned themselves in at the Frio County Jail on Wednesday, July 2.
Last August, Paxton’s investigators seized Medina’s cellphone, 65 other cell phones, and 41 computers from his home. Authorities also searched the homes of five others who worked on Castellano’s campaign.
Gabriel Rosales, Texas director for the League of United Latin American Citizens, had called the searches and seizures “disgraceful and outrageous.”
Castellano’s attorney, Don Flanary, called the recent charges politically motivated.
“Even if [the] statute was constitutional, she didn’t do anything approaching what they’ve accused her of,” Flanary told KSAT.
Leal told KSAT she did not know why she was charged, claiming she was “literally leaving flyers at people’s houses.”
“It’s highly inappropriate, in my opinion, to be filing these charges now when the 5th Circuit is going to rule about whether the activity is even a crime,” Flanary told the Texas Tribune.
A federal judge had ruled parts of Texas’ 2021 election security law unconstitutional. In 2024, the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals stated that the law may remain in effect while Texas appealed the decision.
The six suspects arrested in May face the following indictments:
- Frio County Judge Rochelle Lozano Camacho (D-Frio): three counts of vote harvesting. The State Commission on Judicial Conduct has since suspended her.
- Former Frio County elections administrator Carlos Segura: one count of tampering with or fabricating physical evidence.
- Pearsall City Council member Ramiro Trevino: one count of vote harvesting.
- Pearsall City Council member Racheal Garza: one count of vote harvesting.
- Pearsall ISD trustee Adrienne Ramirez: three counts of vote harvesting.
- Rosa Rodriguez, campaign worker: two counts of vote harvesting.
Segura, the only suspect indicted for something other than vote harvesting, had called the charges “ridiculous”.
All six suspects pleaded not guilty at a May hearing. They will return to a Frio County courtroom later this month.
Rosales said, “There’s no vote harvesting going on. There’s nobody creating these ballots. That’s a lie.”
Texas Scorecard initially reported the following names that have not received indictments as they appeared in search warrants:
- Maria del Carmen Vela, an alleged primary ballot harvester. According to records, she admitted to helping her brother Joe.
- Joe Vela, Frio County Commissioner Precinct 1. Vela allegedly paid his sister Maria to help him win the 2024 Democrat primary and runoff.
- Louisa Martinez, a Pearsall ISD candidate who lost her race in 2023. According to records, Martinez paid Vela with Dr. Pepper, cigarettes, and gas for ballots.
Their names appeared with some of those recently indicted, as investigators seized the cell phones of suspects whom they believe either gave or received money for vote harvesting.
According to copies of the initial six indictments, these records also show the involvement of three others: Vanessa Benavides, Sara Morales, and Aundrea Camacho.
While prosecutors have not formally named them as suspects, they appear to have accepted Cash App payments from candidates and sent the funds on to an alleged vote harvester, according to the indictment records. The original search warrants also included Atascosa County.
“The people of Texas deserve fair and honest elections, not backroom deals and political insiders rigging the system. Elected officials who think they can cheat to stay in power will be held accountable. No one is above the law,” said Attorney General Paxton in a May press release. “My office will continue to work with Frio County District Attorney Audrey Louis to protect the integrity of our elections.”
The ongoing investigation will likely result in additional indictments and arrests.
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